rTTV" 

_J  LJ  1 

MENTARY 


LOR 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


f  below 


STATE  NORMAL  SCHOOL 

LOS  ANGELES,  CALIFORNIA 


WORD  STUDY  IN  THE 

ELEMENTARY 

SCHOOL 


BY  JOSEPH  S.  TAYLOR,  PD.D. 

DISTRICT   SUPERINTENDENT  OF  SCHOOLS,  NEW  YORK  CITY 

Author  of  "Art  of  Class  Management  and  Discipline,"  and 

"Composition  in  the  Elementary  School" 


2  335-2. 


EDUCATIONAL  PUBLISHING  COMPANY 

BOSTON 
NEW  YORK  CHICAGO        SAN  FRANCISCO 


COPYRIGHT,  1910 

BY 
EDUCATIONAL  PUBLISHING   COMPANY 


Educatiom 
Library 

\_8 


\5 


Preface 

Polonius — What  do  you  read,  my  lord? 
Hamlet — Words,  words,  words. —  Shakespeare 

The  author  of  this  book  believes  that  a  good  ele- 
mentary school  in  our  land  is  known  chiefly  by  the  kind 
of  English  that  is  used  therein.  If  the  pupils  read 
with  fluency  and  proper  appreciation  books  possessing 
worthy  content,  and  speak  and  write  their  mother 
tongue  with  accuracy,  clearness,  and  force,  the  school, 
no  matter  how  humble  its  estate,  or  how  numerous 
its  short-comings,  has  not  labored  in  vain.  On  the 
other  hand,  no  matter  how  excellent  may  be  the 
equipment,  how  elaborate  the  course  of  study,  no 
school  can  lay  claim  to  a  high  rank  which  neglects 
the  all-important  matter  of  expression. 

The  study  of  language  is  largely  a  study  of  words. 
The  word  is  the  first  object  of  study  presented  to  the 
child  when  he  enters  school;  and  there  never  is  a 
'  time  from  that  day  until  the  day  of  graduation  when 
the  word  ceases  to  occupy  his  attention.  So  impor- 
tant an  element  of  education  deserves  our  most  care- 
ful consideration.  The  following  chapters  embody 
the  author's  effort  to  gather  up  the  various  phases  of 


11  PREFACE 

word  study,  which  are  usually  presented  in  isolated 
fashion,  into  a  single  volume. 

It  has  been  well  said  that  "the  thought  in  the  thing 
and  the  law  in  the  mind  determine  the  method." 
In  this  book  the  method  advocated  is  in  every  instance 
based  upon  "the  thought  in  the  thing"  and  "the  law 
in  the  mind. "  The  nature  of  the  word,  in  its  forma- 
tion, spelling,  and  meaning,  is  considered  from  the 
point  of  view  of  the  history  of  the  English  language. 
The  act  of  spelling  as  a  mental  process  is  analyzed  by 
scientific  methods.  The  way  the  child  puts  meaning 
into  words  is  investigated  in  the  same  way.  On  the 
facts  thus  learned  are  based  a  series  of  inferences  in 
the  form  of  propositions  constituting  Chapter  IV. 
Upon  these  inferences,  which  are  the  raw  material  of 
method,  the  author  has  built  all  his  elaborations  con- 
tained in  subsequent  chapters  on  methods  and  devices 
of  teaching  the  spelling,  meaning,  formation,  and  use 
of  words. 

It  is  believed  that  this  work  is  the  only  attempt  that 
has  ever  been  made  to  collect  all  the  available  scien- 
tific material  on  word-study  into  a  single  body  of 
assorted  knowledge  and  suggestion.  The  partial 
bibliography  given  in  Chapter  IX  shows  that  most 
of  the  matter  here  summarized  is  scattered  in  periodi- 
cal publications,  some  of  which  are  accessible  to 
only  the  most  favored  teachers.  Special  attention  is 


PREFACE  iii 

invited  to  the  two  chapters  on  method  (V  and  VII). 
These  are  the  most  practical  parts  of  the  subject, 
although  their  full  import  can  not  be  comprehended 
without  a  careful  study  of  the  preceding  chapters. 
Chapter  VI.,  which  treats  of  the  meaning  and  use  of 
words,  is  probably  one  of  the  most  useful  phases  of 
the  discussion,  because  it  treats  in  a  comprehensive 
way  a  topic  that  is  little  understood  by  teachers  and 
is  sadly  neglected. 

For  convenience  of  references,  a  "summary"  is 
provided  in  Chapter  IX,  showing  at  a  glance  the 
various  forms  of  word  study  that  should  be  carried 
on  in  the  several  grades,  and  offering  an  alphabetical 
list  of  prefixes,  suffixes,  and  stems  suitable  for  study 
in  the  elementary  school. 

JOSEPH  S.  TAYLOR 
New  York,  June  14, 1909. 


Table  of  Contents 


PAGE 

I    THE  SCOPE  OF  WORD  STUDY i 

1  Pronunciation i 

(1)  Articulation 3 

(a)    Imitation 6 

(6)    Phonic  Analysis    ....        7 

(c)    Errors  due  to  Defective  Organisms.        9 

(.4)    Stammering      ...        9 

(B)    Lisping  10 

(2)  Accent .10 

(3)  Diacritical  Marks n 

2  Capitalization 13 

3  Abbreviations  and  Contractions    .        .        .        -14 

4  Compounds,  Plurals,  and  Possessives   .        .        .16 

II    THE  NATURE  AND  VALUE  OF  SPELLING  18 

1  Where  to  Begin  Spelling 18 

2  The  Origin  of  the  Alphabet        .        .        .        -19 

3  The  Norman  Conquest  of  England     ...      20 

4  The  Practice  of  Authors  and  Copyists        .        .      21 

5  The  Invention  of  Printing 22 

6  The  Publication  of  English  Dictionaries    .        .      22 

7  Spelling  in  the  Schools      .        .        .        .        .      23 

8  Educational  Value  of  Spelling     .        .        .        .27 

(1)  Not  a  Culture  Study      ....      27 

(2)  Conventional  Value          ....      28 

III    PSYCHOLOGY  OF  SPELLING 29 

i    Studies  Published 29 

(1)  Adelaide  E.  Wyckoff       ....      29 

(a)    Conclusions  (1-4)         .  '  •    ,        .      32 

(2)  W.  A.  Lay 32 

(a)    Conclusions  (1-9)         ...      34 


vi  TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 

(3)  H.  H.  Schiller 35 

(a)    Value  of  Methods  35 

(4)  F.  W.  Smedley 35 

(a)    Conclusions  (1-4)         ...  36 

(5)  H.  E.  Kratz 36 

(a)    Conclusions  (1-5)         ...  38 

(6)  Edward  R.  Shaw 38 

(o)    Conclusions  (1-3)         ...  38 

(7)  Dr.  J.  M.  Rice 39 

(a)    Conclusions  (1-3)         ...  40 

(8)  Miss  E.  K.  Carmen         ....  41 

(a)  Conclusions  (1-2)         ...  42 

(b)  Criticism 43 

(9)  Oliver  P.  Comman 43 

(a)    Fifteen -Minute  Test     ...  44 

(A)  Inferences  (1-6)       .        .  45 
(6)    Analysis  of  Errors        ...  46 

(.4)    Motor  In  co-ordination      .  48 

(B)  Complication    ...  48 

(C)  Sensory  Inco-ordination    .  48 

(c)  Explanation   of   Terms  (1-15)    .  48 
(rf)    Inferences  from  Study  of  Errors 

(1-8) 52 

IV    CONCLUSIONS  DERIVED  FROM  THE  NATURE,  VALUE, 

AND  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  SPELLING  (1-30)         .       .  54 

From  the  Nature  of  Spelling.  .         .  54 

From  the  Psychology  of  Spelling     .        .  55 

V    METHODS  OF  TEACHING  SPELLING     ....  59 

i    The  Selection  of  Words 59 

(i)    Arguments  in  favor  of  the  Spelling-Book  .  59 

(a)    Arguments  against  the  Spelling-Book     .  61 

(3)    Principles  of  Selection     ....  63 

(a)  Familiar  as  to  Meaning      .        .  63 

(b)  Some  Difficulty  of  Spelling  .        .  63 

(c)  Phonetic  at  First  .  $5 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS  vii 

a    Principles  of  Method 65 

(1)  English  Spelling  Arbitrary      ...  65 

(2)  Not  a  General  Habit       ....  66 

(3)  Preparation  of  the  Lesson      ...  67 

(a)     Pronunciation       ....  67 

(6)    Syllabication         ....  67 

(c)  Derivation 67 

(d)  Visual  vs.  Auditory  Images  .        .  68 

(e)  The  Copying  Method    ...  68 
(/)    Motor  Images  of  Speech     .        .  68 
(g)    Automatic  Through  Writing .        .  69 
(h)    Combination  of  Senses       .        .  69 
(»)    Connected  Discourse     ...  69 
(/)    No  "Best  Method"      ...  71 
(jfe)    Homonyms           ....  71 

(4)  The  Test 71 

(a)    Teaching  and  Testing        .        .  73 

(5)  Spelling  a  Sign  of  General  Pedagogical 

Health 75 

(6)  Individual  Differences      .        .        .        -77 

(7)  Spelling  Drill 78 

(a)  Incidental  Spelling       ...  79 

(b)  Every  Lesson  a  Spelling  Lesson  .  82 

(c)  The  Dictionary  Habit  ...  83 

(8)  Spelling  and  Supervision        ...  84 
3    The  Time  Allowance        .        .        .        .        .  87 

VI    THE  MEANING  AND  USE  OF  WORDS    ....  89 

1  The  Function  of  Words 89 

2  The  Nature  of  Definition 92 

(i)    Illustration 93 

3  Relation  of  Language-Teaching  to  Knowledge- 

Teaching       95 

4  How  Words  Get  Meaning           ....  96 

(1)  The  Berlin  Investigation          ...  96 

(2)  Dr.  Hall's  Contents  of  Children's  Minds  .  97 

(3)  Earl  Barnes 99 

(4)  Will  Grant  Chambers     ....  104 


viii  TABLE  OP  CONTENTS 

5  Summary  of  Conclusions  (i-n)  ....    104 

6  Words  not  to  be  Denned 106 

(1)  Too  Difficult 106 

(2)  Too  Easy 107 

7  What  Words  to  Define 108 

(1)  Words  in  Common  Use  Whose  Meaning 

is  not  Familiar  to  Children    .        .        .     108 

(2)  Words  Needed  to  Master  the  Course  of 

Study 109 

VII  METHODS  OF  TEACHING  THE  MEANING  AND  USE 

or  WORDS in 

i    Inductive 113 

(1)  The  Natural  Method      .        .        .        .113 

(2)  The  Use  of  Context       .        .        .        .115 

(3)  Memorizing  Prose  and  Poetry  .        .        .116 

(4)  Story  and  Picture 117 

(5)  Dramatization          .        .        .        .        .119 
a    Deductive 120 

(1)  Prefixes  and  Suffixes       ....     120 

(a)  Graded  Lists       .        .        .        .122 

(b)  Review  Work       .        .        .        .123 

(2)  Definition         .        .        •        .        .        .     123 

(a)  Synonyms 125 

(b)  Figurative  and  Poetic  Equivalents.     126 
3    Tests  of  Meaning        .- 127 

(1)  Definitions  not  to  be  Copied  or  Memorized     127 

(2)  Children's  Definitions      .        .        .        .129 

(3)  Children's  Sentences       ....     130 

VIII  DEVICES  IN  WORD  STUDY   .       .       .       .       .       .132 

1  "Trapping"        .        .        .        .        .        .        .  132 

2  A  Modem  Substitute  for  Trapping     .        .        .133 

3  Spelling  in  1851 136 

4  Names  of  Common  Things         ....  163 

5  "Logomachy"     . 137 

6  Calling  Attention  to  Parts  Liable  to  be  Mistaken  .  137 

7  Drill  on  Words  Often  Mispronounced  .        ,        .  138 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS  ix 

8  Spelling 139 

(1)  How  the  Exercise  is  Conducted      .        .  139 

(2)  Method  of  Correction      ....  140 

9  Meaning 142 

10  Spelling  by  Dictation 143 

11  Meaning  and  Use        ...'...  143 

DC    SUMMARY  OF   WORD   STUDY 148 

1  Word  Analysis  and  Synthesis      .        .        .        .148 

2  Choice  of  Words 150 

3  Diacritical  Marks 152 

4  Use  of  the  Dictionary 152 

5  Bibliography 154 

6  Alphabetical  List  of  Prefixes,  Suffixes,  and  Stems 

for  Reference 156 

(1)  Prefixes 156 

(2)  Suffixes 158 

(3)  Latin  Stem 161 

(4)  Greek  Stems 161 

Summary  of  Word  Study 162 

INDEX 173 


Elementary  Word  Study 
I 

2.3  33-2. 

The  Scope  of  Word  Study 

The  study  of  words  in  the  elementary  school  in- 
cludes the  following  elements:  Spelling,  Meaning 
and  Use,  Derivation  (including  prefixes  and  suffixes), 
Capitalization,  Syllabication,  Pronunciation,  Phonics, 
Contractions,  Abbreviations,  Compounds,  Plurals, 
Possessives,  Homonyms,  Synonyms,  and  Dictionary 
Drill.  Spelling  and  Meaning  will  be  treated  in 
separate  chapters.  Some  of  the  topics  will  be  con- 
sidered under  spelling  and  the  rest  will  be  briefly 
discussed  here. 

I     Pronunciation 

Orthography  and  pronunciation  are  reverse  pro- 
cesses. The  problem  of  pronunciation  is:  given  the 
form  of  a  word  to  determine  its  name.  The  problem 
of  spelling  is :  given  the  name  of  a  word  to  determine 
its  form.  Pronunciation  is  the  translation  of  eye- 


2  ELEMENTARY  WORD  STUDY 

symbols  into  ear-symbols;  spelling  is  the  translation 
of  ear-symbols  into  eye-symbols. 

That  the  problems  of  word  study  which  the  present 
generation  is  trying  to  solve  are  not  new,  may  be  seen 
from  the  following  quotation  from  a  book  printed 
almost  a  century  ago:1 

"Some  have  attempted  to  change  the  orthography 
of  our  language,  and  to  write  words  as  they  are  pro- 
nounced; but  for  an  individual  to  presume  to  make 
the  least  alteration,  in  that  respect,  must  be  the  height 
of  arrogance  and  folly.  .  .  .  Even  a  Roman 
emperor  once  exerted  all  his  power  to  introduce  one 
new  letter  into  their  alphabet,  but  without  effect. 
.  .  .  Custom  will  be  sovereign  in  this  case.  .  .  . 
Pronunciation,  as  well  as  orthography,  is  entirely 
under  the  control  of  custom.  This  has  decreed  that 
the  words  boatswain,  shew,  sew,  cucumber,  should  be 
pronounced  bosn,  sho,  so,  cowcumber." 

In  order  to  become  proficient  in  pronunciation  the 
child  must  have  systematic  drill  in  the  art.  The 
chief  elements  involved  in  pronunciation  are  enun- 
ciation and  accent.  Enunciation  is  sometimes  called 
articulation.  Both  terms  are  related  to  pronuncia- 
tion as  parts  to  a  whole.  Pronunciation  refers  to  the 
utterance  of  the  entire  word,  while  articulation  or 

1  Abner  Alden :     "  An  Introduction  to  Spelling  and  Reading. "     VoL 
II.,  pth  edition,  Boston,  1824. 


THE  SCOPE  OF  WORD  STUDY     3 

enunciation  has  reference  to  the  elementary  parts  of 
the  word.  We  get  correct  pronunciation  of  a  word 
by  the  clear  articulation  of  its  sounds  and  syllables, 
and  a  proper  distribution  of  the  accents. 

(i)  ARTICULATION  OR  ENUNCIATION  Elemen- 
tary sounds  are  divided  into  vowels  and  consonants. 
The  vowel  characters,  with  their  diacritical  markings, 
represent  nineteen  sounds.  A  vowel  sound  is  pro- 
duced by  a  continuous  passage  of  the  breath.  The 
following  table  exhibits  the  vowel  sounds  as  usually 
given  in  the  dictionaries : 

a,  long,  as  in  ale;  like  e  in  prey. 

a,  short,  as  in  fat. 

a,  as  in  care;  like  6  in  there. 

a,  Italian,  as  in  arm. 

a  as  in  ask. 

a,  broad,  as  in  all;  like  6  in  fork,  aw  in  pawn,  au  in  faun. 

e,  long,  as  in  me,  like  i  in  police. 

6,  short,  as  in  met;  like  ai  in  said,  ay  in  says. 

e,  as  in  her;  likeT  in  bird,  u  in  urge. 

i,  long,  as  in  ice;  like  y  in  fly. 

i,  short,  as  in  tin;  like  y  in  hymn. 

3,  long,  as  in  old;  like  ew  in  sew,  eau  in  beau. 

6,  short,  as  in  not;  like  a  in  what. 

u,  long,  as  in  use;  like  ew  in  few. 

fl,  short,  as  in  sun;  like  o  in  none. 

!!,  as  in  rude;  like  o  in  to,  oo  in  moon. 

u,  as  in  pull;  like  p  in  wolf,  06  in  /oo/. 

oi,  as  in  boil;  like  oy  in  boy. 

ow,  as  in  how;  like  ou  in  our. 


4  ELEMENTARY  WORD  STUDY 

A  consonant  sound  is  produced  by  an  obstruction 
of  the  breath.  In  our  language  a  consonant  sound 
is  usually  uttered  in  combination  with  a  vowel  sound. 
Consonants  are  divided  into  classes  that  have  refer- 
ence to  the  organs  by  which  the  sounds  are  produced, 
as  follows : 

(a)  Aspirate ;  as  h,  produced  by  forcing  the  breath 
through  the  glottis. 

(b)  Gutturals;  as,  k,  g,  ch  (chorus),  made   by 
throat. 

(c)  Palatals;  as,  ch  (church),  /,  made  by  palate. 

(d)  Dentals,  made  by  teeth;  as,  /,  d,  th. 

(e)  Linguals,    by   tongue;  also   called    sibilants, 
from  their  hissing  sound;  as,  sh,  zh,  s,  z. 

(j)    Labials,  by  the  lips ;  as  p,  b,  j,  v. 

L  and  r  are  called  trills. 

Consonant  sounds  are  further  classified  as  hard 
or  soft.  Those  that  require  considerable  force  in 
utterance  are  hard,  like  />,  and  /;  those  that  require 
less  effort  are  soft,  like  b  and  d.  The  table  which 
follows  exhibits  the  consonants  in  their  proper  classi- 
fication, and  names  also  the  organs  by  which  they  are 
severally  produced : 


2 
S 
1 

Gutturals 

Palatals 

Dentals 

Dentals 

"c3 
bo 

S 

| 

bo 

5 

Labials 

^9 

2 

IS 

a 

I 

1 

c 

c 

a 

M 

M 

•—  , 

"«r 

£ 

o 
in 

•s 

."?. 

* 

| 

I 

60 

J3 

3 

a, 

Je 

** 

pn 

^»^ 

9 

*"2  *«^ 

'J~. 

~~^ 

Sj3 

fH 

js 

•^ 

&• 

C 

3 

IH 

I1 

•j. 

S 

is 

O 

M 

V 

'2 

•a 

en 

0 

M 

1 

a 

) 

1 

1 

"     <U 

> 

i 

II 

bo  — 

M 

S 
CO 

fj 

•S  " 

^ 

s-g 

< 

^^ 

J 

.s^ 

H 

12 

•S 

S! 

3    3 

2 

«_« 

tS 

-13 

a, 

| 

Jl  S 

Ml 

^ 

§c  — 

hH 

^ 

^» 

" 

N 

•gvS 

"f 

^ 

~~: 

~ 

•o 

^ 

— 

^ 

-•: 

^ 

-; 

T5 
| 

£ 

it 

c 

rt 

3 

bo 

a 

bo 

T3 

•TO 

C 

1 

4) 

•o 

• 
g   ^ 

•o 
3 

V 

1 

J-8 

TD 

£ 

CO 

"o 

**   n) 

"o^ 

O 

si 

| 

«  a 

T> 

11 

i 

•5 
o 
O 

gl 

5  oi 

_^T3 

i 

H  " 

bO^ 

H" 

IS 

I1 

&.§• 

a-3 
P 

|1 

* 

g 

p 

" 

w 

** 

Tf- 

10 

** 

oo 

0 

0 

M 

K 

ELEMENTARY  WORD  STUDY 


The  following  letters  have  been  omitted  from  this 
table  because  their  sounds  are  represented  by  other 
letters:  c,  g  (soft),  q,  x. 

Another  scheme  of  classifying  sounds  is  the  one 
used  by  Webster's  International  Dictionary;  this  is 
shown  in  the  tables  given  below : 


These  are  the  vowels: 
b,  as  in  

Voa 

a,  e,  i,  o,  \ 

SUBV( 

bid 
did 
•  gun 
.  jet 
let 
.  met 
.  nag 

LLS 

i  (w,  y,  sometimes). 

3CALS 

d,  " 

v' 

a     " 

w. 

,     " 

v. 

z. 

m,  " 

z. 

n.  " 

ne.  ' 

rug 

vote 

win 

yet 

gaze 

azure 

long 


th,  as  in  those 


ASPIRATES 


t,asin    fame 

h,    "      home 

k,    "      king 


t,  as  in time 

ch,  "    child 

sh,  "     shine 

th,  "    theme 

wh,"     when 

Correct  pronunciation  is  taught  chiefly  by  imita- 
tion, by  phonic  analysis,  and  by  correcting  the  faults 
of  the  pupils. 

(a)  Imitation  The  child  instinctively  imitates 
the  language  sounds  he  hears.  This  is  the  impulse 
which  guarantees  the  acquisition  of  language  in  the 


THE  SCOPE  OF  WORD  STUDY     ^ 

case  of  normal  children.  So  potent  is  the  instinct  of 
imitation  that  a  child  will  learn  any  language  that 
happens  to  prevail  in  his  environment.  Alfred 
Russell  Wallace  says  that  the  same  is  true  in  the 
animal  world.  Young  birds  never  have  the  song 
peculiar  to  their  species,  if  they  have  not  heard  it; 
whereas  they  acquire  very  easily  the  song  of  any 
other  bird  with  which  they  are  associated.1  These 
significant  facts  point  the  way  for  the  teacher  in  his 
efforts  to  improve  the  child  in  the  use  of  oral  or 
written  speech.  The  teacher  must  himself  be  a 
model  of  correct  articulation,  if  he  expects  his  pupils 
to  acquire  the  habit.  In  teaching  foreigners  he 
will  find  it  necessary  to  utter  the  difficult  sounds 
slowly  and  require  the  pupil  to  observe  the  posi- 
tion of  the  speech  organs  while  the  sounds  are 
produced. 

(b)  Phonic  Analysis  This  should  receive  care- 
ful attention  in  every  school.  Many  of  the  faults  of 
pronunciation  found  among  children  may  be  pre- 
vented or  removed  by  persistent  drilling  on  elementary 
sounds.  The  work  is  to  be  so  conducted  as  to  be  both 
voice-training  and  ear-training,  and  is  to  be  so  organ- 
ized as  to  become  an  essential  and  integral  element 
in  the  method  of  teaching  reading.  One  very  thor- 

1  Tracy:     "The  Psychology  of  Childhood,"  p.  117.    D.  C.  Heath 
&  Co.,  Boston,  1896. 


8  ELEMENTARY  WORD  STUDY 

ough  and  intelligent  scheme  of  phonetic  drill  was 
worked  out  by  the  late  Edward  G.  Ward,  of  Brooklyn, 
in  connection  with  his  method  of  reading.1  Many 
other  schemes  have  been  devised  by  authors  of  text- 
books on  reading;  but  in  spite  of  all  the  excellent 
material  available,  phonic  drills  are  sadly  neglected 
in  many  schools.  The  principal  point  to  remember 
in  this  connection  is  that  such  drills,  in  order  to  be 
effective,  must  be  both  systematic  and  persistent, 
Desultory  work,  which  is  done  one  way  in  one  class 
and  some  other  way  in  the  next  class,  or  is  done  when 
the  teacher  happens  to  think  of  it,  is  almost  a  total 
waste  of  time.  Careful  supervision,  which  grades 
the  work  and  insists  on  daily  faithful  practice,  is 
absolutely  essential  to  success.  The  first  desidera- 
tum, therefore,  in  phonic  drills,  is  a  plan  devised  by  a 
teacher,  principal,  or  author,  which  specifies  the  exact 
work  to  be  done  in  each  grade  and  sees  to  it  that 
every  teacher  performs  his  allotted  portion  of  the 
task. 

Phonic  Analysis  should  include  exercises  on  the 
vocals,  subvocals,  and  aspirates  by  themselves  and 
in  combination.  At  the  end  of  the  first  three  years, 
if  the  work  has  been  thoroughly  done,  the  formal 
drills  on  mere  sounds  as  such  may  cease.  Thereafter 
each  teacher  or  grade  should  work  upon  exercises 

1  "The  Rational  Method. "     Silver,  Burdette  &  Co.,  New  York. 


THE  SCOPE  OF  WORD  STUDY     9 

designed  to  correct  characteristic  errors  made  by  the 
pupils.  These  faults  of  pronunciation  will  vary  in 
different  communities  and  in  different  sections  of  the 
same  city.  Children  of  German  parentage  or  en- 
vironment have  one  set  of  difficulties,  Italians  have 
another,  Russians  have  another,  and  so  on;  while 
the  native  boy  has  a  stock  of  mistakes  peculiar  to 
himself.  A  half-hour's  observation  in  any  class- 
room will  reveal  the  kind  of  drill  required  in  that 
particular  class.  In  the  course  of  a  five-minute 
reading-test  of  a  fourth-year  class  the  author  dis- 
covered the  following  errors:  threw  (two),  dew  (do), 
Arctic  (Artie),  Antarctic  (Antartic),  bird  (boid), 
apology.  These  and  similar  words  should  be  put 
into  lists  and  given  to  children  for  practice  in  articu- 
lation. 

(c)    Errors  due  to  Defective  Organisms. 

(A)  Stammering  Stammering  is  a  hindrance 
or  obstructed  utterance  of  words.  Sometimes  it  is 
due  to  a  defect  in  the  organs  of  speech.  Such  was 
apparently  the  fact  in  the  case  of  Demosthenes, 
who  is  said  to  have  cured  his  faults  of  enunciation  by 
declaiming  with  pebbles  in  his  mouth.  Sometimes 
stammering  is  merely  a  habit  contracted  through 
the  power  of  suggestion  by  associating  with  com- 
panions who  stammer.  When  some  people  are  greatly 
excited  by  anger  or  other  powerful  emotions  they 


io  ELEMENTARY  WORD  STUDY 

stammer.  The  remedy  in  both  of  the  cases  just 
cited  is  speaking  slowly.  Frequently  stammering 
is  due  to  nervousness  or  timidity,  in  which  case  the 
teacher  may  overcome  the  defect  by  inducing  in  the 
pupil  a  state  of  self-confidence  and  self-forget  fulness. 
One  of  the  writer's  classmates  in  a  normal  school  was 
afflicted  in  his  youthful  days  with  a  serious  case  of 
stammering.  He  was  cured  in  a  school  of  oratory 
chiefly  by  drills  in  deliberate  utterance  and  the  habit 
of  self-control.  To-day  he  is  a  prominent  railroad 
attorney  of  the  West,  and  no  one  would  suspect  his 
former  deficiency. 

(B)  Lisping  Lisping  is  the  use  of  the  sound 
th  for  s.  It  may  be  due  to  a  peculiarity  of  the  vocal 
organs,  or  may  be  a  mere  habit  of  which  the  victim 
is  unconscious.  The  remedy  is  practice  in  making 
the  sounds  of  5  and  th,  either  in  isolation  or  in  words 
of  which  they  form  a  part. 

(2)  ACCENT  For  a  complete  discussion  of 
accent  the  reader  is  referred  to  the  unabridged  dic- 
tionaries. Accent  is  a  stress  of  voice  placed  upon 
one  or  more  syllables.  It  gives  a  musical  element  to 
speech  and  adds  to  the  beauty  and  harmony  of 
language.  Accent  is  of  two  kinds,  primary  and 
secondary,  the  former  being  the  stronger.  Some 
words  have  two  secondary  accents.  Sometimes  the 
primary  and  secondary  accents  are  nearly  equal,  as 


THE  SCOPE  OF  WORD  STUDY     n 

in  violin,  caravan,  artisan.  Sometimes  the  primary 
and  secondary  accents  are  exchanged,  the  primary 
becoming  secondary  and  the  secondary  primary. 
A  rtisan,  reverie,  and  invalid  are  examples  of  exchanged 
accent. 

Accent,  like  enunciation,  is  taught  chiefly  by  imi- 
tation and  by  drills  in  correcting  errors.  The  teacher 
should  be  a  model  of  correct  accent.  The  pupil 
should  be  made  familiar  with  the  method  of  indicating 
accent  in  the  dictionary.  Pronouncing  matches 
may  be  conducted  as  follows:  The  teacher  spells 
words  orally  or  on  the  blackboard  and  children  are 
called  upon  to  pronounce.  They  may  choose  sides, 
or  "trap,"  or  "go  out."  An  occasional  exercise  of 
this  kind  lends  zest  to  the  work,  stimulates  interest 
in  correct  pronunciation,  and  assists  in  the  formation 
of  habits  of  accuracy  in  oral  speech. 

(3)  DIACRITICAL  MARKS  Phonic  work  in  Eng- 
lish involves  a  knowledge  of  diacritical  markings. 
Since  we  employ  the  Phoenician  alphabet,  which  has 
but  twenty-six  characters,  to  represent  some  forty 
sounds,  it  is  necessary  for  some  letters  to  represent 
two  or  more  sounds.  In  order  to  indicate  the  exact 
pronunciation  of  a  word,  therefore,  we  employ  a 
system  of  marks.  Following  is  a  list  of  the  marks 
commonly  used : 


12  ELEMENTARY  WORD  STUDY 


VOWEL  MARKINGS 


The  macron, 
"    breve, 
"    dot, 
"    diaeresis, 
"    circumflex, 
"    wave  or  tilde, 


as  in  ate,  eve. 
as  in  bat,  fax. 
as  in  ask,  was. 
as  in  arm,  all 
as  in  flare,  thSre. 
as  in  fir,  term. 


CONSONANT  MARKINGS 

The  bar,  — ,  as  in  get. 

"   dot,  . ,  as  in  gem. 

"    cedilla,  3,  as  in  cell. 

"    suspended  bar,  x,  as  in  exist. 

The  extent  to  which  these  marks  should  be  resorted 
to  in  elementary  reading  is  a  disputed  point.  Many 
excellent  authorities  make  them  an  essential  part  of 
phonic  reading  and  phonic  drill  from  the  very  first, 
while  other  well-known  educators  believe  that  they 
may  be  dispensed  with  during  the  first  three  years. 
But  after  the  child  is  old  enough  to  use  a  dictionary 
he  must  know  the  meaning  of  diacritics.  The  writer 
has  found  many  classes  that  could  use  the  dictionary 
with  facility  as  a  book  of  definitions,  but  he  has  seldom 
found  one  whose  members  could  with  confidence 
tell  the  pronunciation  of  a  strange  or  difficult  word 
by  its  markings.  This  deficiency  is  due  to  lack  of 
drills  in  diacritical  markings.  Children  should  be 
practiced  in  pronouncing  words  according  to  their 


THE  SCOPE  OF  WORD  STUDY          13 

marks,  and  also  in  marking  the  sounds  of  words 
whose  pronunciation  is  given. 

2  Capitalization 

The  use  of  capitals  demands  attention  from  the 
time  when  the  child  first  begins  to  write  to  the  end  of 
the  school  course.  In  the  first  year  the  pupil  will  do 
little  more  than  copy  words  and  sentences,  and  for 
this  work  no  formal  teaching  as  to  capitals  will  be 
needed.  During  the  second  year,  dictation  and 
reproduction  may  be  introduced,  and  therefore  it  will 
be  necessary  to  teach  the  use  of  the  capital  at  the  be- 
ginning of  a  sentence  and  in  writing  I  and  O .  During 
the  third  year  the  use  of  capital  letters  for  the  first 
word  of  a  line  of  poetry,  for  months  and  days,  and 
for  titles,  may  be  added.  For  the  fourth  year  the 
capital  for  particular  names  can  be  taught.  During 
the  fifth  year,  add  the  words  North,  South,  East, 
West,  when  used  to  denote  parts  of  a  country;  also 
the  first  word  of  a  direct  quotation,  names  repre- 
senting the  Deity,  names  of  the  books  of  the 
Bible,  and  important  words  in  titles  and  head- 
ings. There  remains  only  the  rule  for  personifi- 
cation, which  may  be  introduced  during  the  sixth 
or  seventh  year. 

In  all  word  lists  for  spelling,  proper  nouns  and 
adjectives  should  be  printed  or  written  with  capital 


14  ELEMENTARY  WORD  STUDY 

initials;  all   other  words  should   begin   with  small 
letters. 

3  Abbreviations  and   Contractions 

This  is  a  busy  world,  and  business  men  save  time 
by  shortening  written  words.  By  calling  attention 
to  street  signs,  bills,  letters,  etc.,  the  teacher  induces 
children  to  observe  the  two  ways  of  making  words 
shorter;  namely,  by  abbreviations  and  by  contrac- 
tions. The  rule  is  then  discovered  that  abbreviations 
are  followed  by  the  period  and  contractions  represent 
the  omitted  letters  by  the  apostrophe.  As  abbrevia- 
tions are  merely  devices  to  save  time  and  space,  they 
are  neither  necessary  nor  desirable  except  in  business 
papers  and  letter  headings  or  when  a  lack  of  time  or 
space  seems  to  require  them,  e.g.,  the  word  "County" 
and  the  name  of  the  state  in  the  superscription  of  a 
letter.  Contractions  and  abbreviations  should  be 
taught  systematically,  either  as  a  part  of  the  spelling 
lesson  or  in  separate  lessons.  In  the  case  of  proper 
names,  many  teachers  prefer  to  present  the  abbrevia- 
tion with  the  word  to  which  it  belongs  in  the  same 
spelling  exercise,  e.g. : 

January  Jan. 

February  Feb. 

August  Aug. 


THE  SCOPE  OF  WORD  STUDY     15 

Wednesday  Wed. 

Captain  Capt. 

Colonel  Col. 

Colorado  Col. 

Michigan  Mich. 

England  Eng. 

Kentucky  Ky. 

^v 

There  is  no  especial  difficulty  in  teaching  the  use 
of  abbreviations  and  contractions  as  early  as  the  third 
year;  and  there  is  much  need  of  such  instruction  as 
soon  as  the  child  has  acquired  some  facility  in  reading. 
He  meets  in  his  books  many  cases  of  contraction 
similar  to  the  following: 

The  year's  at  the  spring 
And  day's  at  the  morn; 
God's  in  His  heaven, 
All's  right  with  the  world. 

Some  early  drills  of  the  kind  suggested  here  will 
prepare  the  pupil  to  read  and  understand  contractions 
without  difficulty.  In  order  to  impress  the  lessons, 
the  two  ways  of  shortening  words  should  not  only  be 
observed  in  written  or  printed  form,  but  should  be 
frequently  written  from  dictation. 


16  ELEMENTARY  WORD  STUDY 

4  Compounds,  Plurals,  and  Possessives 

These  three  classes  of  words  are  usually  taught  in 
connection  with  grammar,  but  the  exercise  is  really 
one  of  spelling.  Some  incidental  teaching  of  the 
words  may  be  done  through  observation  and  written 
practice  in  the  early  years,  before  the  child  is  intro- 
duced to  the  formal  study  of  grammar.  After  he  takes 
up  grammar  as  a  separate  study  the  drills  should  be 
frequent  and  thorough.  Some  of  the  spelling  books 
make  provision  for  words  of  the  kind  above  specified, 
as  shown  in  the  following  exercises : 

RULE  To  form  the  plural  of  nouns  ending  in  y  preceded  by  a 
consonant,  change  y  to  i  and  add  es;  as  army,  armies. 

ally  beau  ty  a'genc  y  en'e  my 

duty  body  artery  injury 

ed  dy  fair  y  cav  i  ty  gal  ler  y 

RULE  Nouns  ending  in  /,  ff,  and  je  are  made  plural  either  by 
adding  *  or  changing  /  or  je  into  v  and  adding  es. 

Add  s  Change  /,  ff,  or  fe  to  v  and  add  es 

belief  roof  beef  loaf 

chief  scarf  calf  knife 

proof  sheriff  life  wolf 

Certain  common  foreign  plurals  require  special 
attention ;  among  these  are  phenomena,  data,  genera, 
axes,  etc.  Many  business  men  and  sometimes  careless 
writers  of  books  are  in  the  habit  of  using  "data" 


THE  SCOPE  OF  WORD  STUDY  17 

with  a  singular  verb.  The  writing  of  plural  com- 
pounds is  generally  rendered  easy  by  the  simple 
device  of  determining  the  principal  part  of  the  word 
and  pluralizing  that,  e.  g.: 

father-in-law;  principal  part,  father;  hence,  fathers- 
in-law. 

court-martial;  principal  part,  court  (the  thing  we 
are  speaking  of) ;  hence,  courts-martial. 

handful;  principal  part,  ful  (equals  a  measure); 
hence,  handfuls. 

rose-tree;  principal  part,  tree;  hence,  rose-trees. 


II 

Nature  and  Value  of  Spelling 
I  Where  to  Begin  Spelling 

The  method  of  teaching  reading  at  present  in  vogue, 
under  whatever  name  or  guise  it  appears,  begins 
almost  from  the  first  day  with  the  expression  of 
thoughts  in  sentences.  Words  are  learned  not 
merely  as  constituent  parts  of  the  sentences,  but  also 
as  individual  symbols  of  objects  or  ideas.  If  the 
method  be  analytic,  the  process  of  learning  to  read 
involves  the  separation  of  the  sentence  into  words, 
the  words  into  syllables,  syllables  into  letters  or 
sounds.  If  the  method  be  synthetic,  the  reverse 
procedure  takes  place;  the  child  begins  with  letters, 
combines  these  into  syllables,  syllables  into  words, 
and  words  into  sentences.  Whenever  the  stage  of  the 
individual  sound  has  been  reached,  it  is  necessary  to 
teach  the  names  of  the  characters  that  represent  the 
sounds.  It  is  customary  to  teach  the  letters  of  the 
alphabet  in  order  at  the  close  of  the  first  year  or  at 
the  beginning  of  the  second.  Word-analysis-and- 

18 


NATURE  AND   VALUE  OF  SPELLING    19 

synthesis  naturally  leads  to  spelling,  which  may 
therefore  properly  begin  with  the  second  year  of 
school.  During  the  first  stage  of  spelling-instruction 
words  should  be  presented  in  reading  lessons  in  such 
a  way  as  to  make  their  meaning  clear.  Pupils  are 
to  observe  carefully  the  printed  and  written  forms  of 
words.  The  naming  of  letters  will  help  to  fix  the 
forms  in  the  memory.  Whether  the  method  be 
analytic  or  synthetic,  the  final  stage  in  either  case 
will  be  a  mastery  of  the  elements  and  their  combina- 
tion as  word-units. 


2  The  Origin  of  the  Alphabet 

The  English  alphabet  originated  in  Egypt  in  the 
remote  past.  From  there  it  was  carried  into  Phoenicia, 
where  it  was  modified  and  became  the  Phoenician 
alphabet.  It  is  well  known  that  the  Phoenicians 
were  a  commercial  and  colonizing  people,  and  where- 
ever  they  went  they  carried  this  alphabet.  In  time 
the  Greeks  received  it.  They  passed  it  on  to  the 
Romans,  and  they  in  turn  gave  it  to  the  Germanic 
peoples.  Originally  the  alphabet  had  twenty-two 
characters.  In  the  course  of  historic  transmission, 
some  of  the  characters  were  dropped,  others  were 
added,  and  the  phonetic  values  of  many  were  greatly 
changed.  Furthermore,  there  were  not  enough 


20  ELEMENTARY  WORD  STUDY 

characters  to  represent  all  the  sounds  of  the  modern 
languages  that  borrowed  the  oriental  alphabet,  and 
so  it  came  to  pass  that  some  letters  represent  a  variety 
of  sounds.  It  is  evident  that  this  circumstance  alone 
accounts  for  a  large  part  of  the  difficulty  of  English 
orthography.  There  is  nothing  in  the  pronunciation 
of  such  words  as  dough,  cough,  plough,  etc.,  that 
gives  any  hint  as  to  their  spelling;  and  conversely, 
the  spelling  furnishes  no  clue  concerning  the  pro- 
nunciation. 

3  The  Norman  Conquest  of  England 

The  native  language  of  England  is  the  speech  of 
Teutonic  tribes  that  came  into  the  country  in  the 
fifth  century  and  conquered  the  Celtic  inhabitants. 
It  is  known  as  Anglo-Saxon.  "The  Roman  mission- 
aries first  reduced  this  language  to  writing.  They 
used  the  Roman  letters,  in  nearly  their  Roman  value, 
and  added  new  characters  for  the  sound  of  a  in  fat, 
th  in  their,  th  in  thine,  and  w.  In  the  fusion  of 
Normans  and  Saxons,  after  the  Norman  Conquest, 
neither  party  could  pronounce  the  words  of  the  other 
party  correctly,  and  in  spelling  these  mispronuncia- 
tions, they  introduced  many  lamentable  irregulari- 
ties."1 But  while  this  union  of  two  great  tongues 

1 "  The  Origin  of  Language. "    Quoted  in  Standard  Dictionary,  p.  IX. 


NATURE  AND   VALUE  OF  SPELLING    21 

has  resulted  in  incongruous  and  unmanageable 
spellings,  it  has  produced  a  language  of  which  Jacob 
Grimm  writes  as  follows:  "Its  entire  structure  and 
completeness,  at  once  wholly  intellectual  and  wonder- 
fully perfected,  has  proceeded  from  an  astonishing 
union  between  the  two  noblest  languages  of  modern 
Europe,  the  Germanic  and  the  Romanic;  and  it  is 
well  known  how  they  are  related  in  English,  the 
former  predominantly  giving  the  material  basis,  the 
latter  the  intellectual  conception.  In  fact,  the  Eng- 
lish language  as  used  by  Shakespeare  can  rightly 
be  called  a  world  language,  and  seems,  like  the 
English  people  itself,  destined  in  the  future,  in  yet 
greater  measure  than  heretofore,  to  rule  in  all  the 
ends  of  the  earth.  When  we  consider  its  richness, 
intellectuality,  and  condensed  adaptability,  no  one 
of  all  the  other  living  languages  may  be  placed  at  its 
side,  yea,  not  even  our  German  language. " 

4  The  Practice  of  Authors  and  Copyists 

Before  the  invention  of  printing,  authors  spelled 
as  they  pleased.  There  was  no  recognized  standard. 
Words  were  spelled  in  various  ways  by  different 
authors  and  frequently  by  the  same  author.  Even 
proper  names  had  no  fixed  and  invariable  spelling. 
Copyists  still  further  complicated  the  situation  by 


22  ELEMENTARY  WORD  STUDY 

orthographic  independence  and  inconsistency.  In 
the  introduction  to  "Webster's  Dictionary"  it  is 
stated  that  Main  waring  has  been  spelled  in  one 
hundred  thirty-one  different  ways.  Even  in  Shakes- 
peare's day  we  find  the  great  poet's  name  written 
in  more  than  thirty  different  ways. 

5  The  Invention  of  Printing 

The  immediate  result  of  the  invention  of  printing 
by  movable  types  was  that  the  bad  spellings  of  the 
time  became  more  or  less  fixed.  Indeed,  much  of 
the  perverse  spelling  of  books  printed  three  centuries 
ago  may  be  attributed  to  the  printer,  who  often 
inserted  or  eliminated  letters  to  suit  the  length  of 
the  line.  It  is  no  uncommon  thing  to  find  in  the 
works  of  Chaucer  and  Spenser  the  same  words 
occurring  in  several  different  forms  upon  the  same 
page. 

6  The  Publication  of  English  Dictionaries 

To  the  celebrated  Dictionary  of  Dr.  Samuel  John- 
son, more  than  to  any  other  influence,  is  credited  the 
present  fixed  form  of  English  spelling.  This  great 
work  was  first  published  in  1775.  The  changes  in 
spelling  introduced  by  Dr.  Johnson  were  generally 
made  in  order  to  restore  the  ancient  orthography  or 


NATURE  AND   VALUE  OF  SPELLING    23 

to  remove  some  anomaly.  The  result  of  Dr.  John- 
son's work  was  that  it  settled  usage  definitely  in 
favor  of  some  one  spelling,  and  thus  removed  the 
cause  of  much  confusion.  In  1828  Dr.  Noah  Web- 
ster issued  his  Dictionary  of  the  English  Language. 
He  made  many  changes  in  spelling  that  met  with 
universal  favor  among  reputable  authors.  The 
most  important  of  these  changes  was  the  restoration 
of  older  spellings  in  order  to  reveal  the  etymological 
affinities  of  words  and  to  remove  anomalies  and 
special  cases.  But  in  spite  of  these  changes  a  large 
portion  of  English  words  still  refuse  to  conform  to 
the  rules  for  spelling. 

7  Spelling  in  the  Schools 

Spelling  as  a  school  subject  owes  its  existence  to 
the  invention  of  printing.  The  spelling  method  of 
teaching  reading  came  into  universal  use  in  the 
Eighteenth  Century.  It  has  been  well  said  that 
our  fathers  used  all  their  ingenuity  to  make  the 
simple  art  of  reading  as  difficult  as  possible.  Not 
only  did  the  children  learn  to  read  by  spelling,  but 
spelling  was  kept  up  after  they  had  acquired  some 
facility  in  reading.  Even  the  most  difficult  and 
unusual  words  were  used.  A  reading  book  pub- 
lished in  1766  contains  these  words  for  spelling: 


24  ELEMENTARY  WORD  STUDY 

Allerliebenswurdigster,  regimentsquartiermeister.  An- 
other reading-and-spelling-book  for  beginners,  pub- 
lished in  1804,  begins  the  spelling  with  the  word 
Viceoberappellazionsgerichtspresident,  which  contains 
fourteen  syllables.  An  educational  author,  writing 
in  1822,  speaks  as  follows  concerning  these  methods: 
"Spelling  seems  to  be  a  frightful  judgment  of  divine 
wrath,  which  the  righteous  God  has  allowed  to  come 
upon  us  and  oppress  us  for  a  long  time  on  account 
of  our  school  sins,  and  we  fervently  pray  God  for 
Christ's  sake  that  He  will  have  mercy  upon  us  and 
take  away  this  judgment  from  us  and  open  the  eyes 
of  those  who  cannot  see  until  He  does,  in  order  that  a 
permanent  foundation  may  the  sooner  be  laid,  and 
that  which  has  long  lain  waste  may  the  sooner  be 
rebuilt."1  Another  writer  says  that  the  spelling  of 
those  days  was  aa  greater  evil  than  the  burning  of 
witches  and  heretics,  a  greater  crime  than  the  rack 
and  all  inhumanities  taken  together."  In  America 
it  was  the  fashion  at  one  time  to  use  the  dictionary 
as  a  spelling  book  and  to  spell  and  define  all  the 
words  printed  from  A  to  Z.  Christopher  A.  Green, 
in  the  year  1851,  delivered  an  address  before  the 
American  Institute  of  Instruction,  in  the  course  of 
which  he  referred  to  his  own  method  of  teaching 

1  Quoted  by  Dr.  Burnham  from  H.  Fechner,  Pedagogical  Seminary, 
Vol.  13,  p.  477. 


NATURE  AND   VALUE  OF  SPELLING    25 

spelling  in  these  words:  "Each  pupil  has  a  blank 
book,  in  which  the  words  spelled  are  written  with 
pen  and  ink.  I  use  Worcester's  dictionary,  which  I 
go  through  regularly  from  beginning  to  end."1 
The  method  has  been  well  characterized  by  Mr. 
Roark  as  "a  pedagogical  horror.  "2 

From  this  extreme  view  of  the  importance  of  spell- 
ing the  pendulum  in  educational  history  swings  to 
the  opposite  extreme,  that  spelling  is  of  little  or  no 
consequence.  "Very  few  people  realize,"  says 
Walter  W.  Skeat,3  "the  extreme  lateness  of  the  idea 
that  the  same  spelling  must  be  adhered  to  throughout 
the  same  book.  It  is  really  no  earlier  than  1700; 
for  previously  to  that  date  varieties  of  spelling,  such 
as  he  and  hee  upon  the  same  page,  can  usually  be 
found. "  Queen  Elizabeth  is  cited  as  a  well-educated 
woman  who  spelled  "sovereign"  in  seven  different 
ways.  Frederick  the  Great  and  Blucher  are  examples 
of  indifference  to  spelling.  Some  writers  of  the 
present  generation  hold  contemptuous  views  con- 
cerning the  value  of  orthography.  The  late  Arnold 
Tompkins  was  quoted  as  saying  that  he  wanted 
children  to  learn  to  spell,  but  "not  too  well." 

1  "Methods  of  Teaching  Spelling,"  in  Journal  of  American  Institute 
oj  Instruction,  1851,  p.  181. 

*  "Method  in  Education,"  p.  133.     American  Book  Company,  1899. 
3  The  National  Review,  Vol.  48,  p.  304. 


26  ELEMENTARY  WORD  STUDY 

William  E.  Mead,1  of  Wesleyan  University,  Middle- 
town,  Conn.,  says  there  is  no  special  virtue  in  being 
able  to  arrange  letters  in  a  certain  order.  Spelling 
which  is  good  in  America  is  regarded  as  very  bad  in 
England.  An  ignorant  man  usually  spells  badly, 
but  many  men  who  are  not  quite  sure  of  their  spelling 
are  unjustly  ranked  among  the  ignorant.  There  is 
some  excuse  for  the  worst  of  spellers,  and  there  is 
much  question  whether  the  social  position  of  many 
excellent  people  should  on  this  score  be  made  pre- 
carious. "It  is  even  hinted  that  George  Washington 
and  other  patriots  showed  their  independence  as  much 
in  spelling  as  in  other  things."2 

Confusion  and  conflict  have  been  rife  since  the 
time  of  Pestalozzi  as  to  the  best  way  of  teaching 
spelling.  Some  of  the  great  writers  emphasize 
sound  and  the  ear.  3  Others  lay  stress  on  the  impor- 
tance of  the  physiognomy  of  the  word  and  the  eye. 4 
Still  others  think  the  rules  of  spelling  and  the  under- 
standing are  of  supreme  importance. s  Diesterweg 
especially  emphasized  pronunciation,  while  Bor- 

1  "Is  Spelling  a  Lost  Art  ?"    Educational  Review,  Vol.  19,  p.  49. 

1  In  a  letter  written  by  Washington  in  1 785  to  his  Aid-de-Camp,  which 
was  recently  sold  at  auction,  choosing  is  spelled  "chusing."  See  New 
York  Times,  March  29, 1908. 

3  Olivier,  Grassman,  Harnisch,  Diesterweg,  Rudolf.     See  Dr.  Burn- 
ham's  article. 

4  Bormann,  Kehr. 

*  Wandes,  Heyse,  Mohr. 


NATURE  AND   VALUE  OF  SPELLING    27 

mann  considered  this  a  hindrance  rather  than  a  help. 
Wawrzyk  is  the  only  authority  among  the  early 
writers  who  points  out  the  significance  of  muscular 
movements  of  the  hand  and  speech  organs.  Bor- 
mann  and  Kehr  believe  copying  the  most  advan- 
tageous movement  in  learning  to  spell,  while  Naumann 
is  convinced  that  copying  is  a  serious  error.  Harnisch 
and  others  speak  disrespectfully  of  rules.  Diesterweg 
advocates  dictation  exercises;  Bormann  and  Kehr 
are  opposed  to  this  procedure.  They  all  use  oral 
spelling,  except  Wawrzyk,  who  absolutely  rejects 
it. 

This  confusion  of  opinion  is  due  to  the  fact  that  it 
is  opinion  rather  than  knowledge.  The  authors 
quoted  argued  and  theorized,  but  did  not  study  the 
psychology  of  the  subject.  In  order  to  determine 
in  a  conclusive  way  which  of  the  several  methods  is 
the  most  efficacious,  scientific  experiments  are  re- 
quired. These  have  in  recent  years  been  made,  and 
the  facts  established  by  them  will  be  found  in  Chapter 
III. 

8    Educational  Value  of  Spelling 

(i)  NOT  A  CULTURE  STUDY  It  has  become 
generally  understood  that  spelling  is  not  a  culture 
study,  like  literature  and  history,  but  a  necessary 
art  which  is  to  be  acquired  in  the  most  direct  and 


28  ELEMENTARY  WORD  STUDY 

positive  way,  and  which  is  to  become  automatic  as 
soon  as  possible. 

(2)  CONVENTIONAL  VALUE  In  spite  of  the  fact 
that  some  people  have  a  poor  opinion  of  good  spellers 
and  cite  Washington  and  Queen  Elizabeth  in  support 
of  their  contention  that  very  good  people  have  been 
poor  spellers,  it  remains  true,  in  the  opinion  of  the 
present  generation,  that  it  is  a  disgrace  not  to  know 
how  to  spell.  Business  men  complain  every  now 
and  then  that  the  graduates  of  the  elementary  schools 
can't  spell.  Dean  Briggs,  of  Harvard,  says:  "We 
have  boys  who  cannot  spell,  teachers  who  cannot 
spell,  college  professors  who  cannot  spell  and  who 
have  a  mean  opinion  of  spelling. "  A  single  slip  of 
spelling  in  an  otherwise  faultless  letter  attaches  an 
odium  to  the  writer.  .  It  is  no  particular  credit  to  be 
a  good  speller,  but  it  is  a  disgrace  to  be  a  poor  one. 
Spelling,  therefore,  has  a  conventional  value  which 
may  not  be  despised  with  impunity. 


Ill 

The  Psychology  of  Spelling 

In  order  to  arrive  at  sound  conclusions  on  the  peda- 
gogy of  spelling,  it  is  well  to  inquire  next  what  the 
subject  is  as  a  mental  process.  What  mental  and 
physiological  activities  are  involved  in  an  act  of  spell- 
ing? What  is  the  cause  of  poor  spelling?  What  is 
the  relation  of  the  spelling  habit  to  general  mental 
ability  ?  Which  of  the  several  methods  or  devices  of 
teaching  spelling  produce  the  best  results,  and  why? 
These  and  a  host  of  similar  'considerations  are  in- 
volved in  the  discussion  of  the  spelling  question. 
In  this  as  in  other  subjects  the  major  part  of  the 
literature  accessible  is  the  record  of  mere  opinion, 
based  usually  upon  personal  experience,  or  other 
insufficient  data.  The  psychology  of  spelling  has  been 
scientifically  studied  by  a  number  of  educators  in 
this  country  and  in  Europe.  Following  will  be  found 
a  brief  account  of  nine  of  these  investigations  with 
the  conclusions  drawn  from  each. 

(i)    ADELAIDE  E.  WYCKOFF  l     In  1893,  Miss 

1  Pedagogical  Seminary,  Vol.  2,  p.  448. 


30  ELEMENTARY  WORD  STUDY 

Wyckoff  published  a  brief  article  giving  an  account 
of  some  experiments  she  had  made  upon  five  young 
women  over  twenty  years  of  age  whom  she  designates 
as  "incorrigible  bad  spellers. "  The  subjects  were  in 
other  respects  able  and  faithful  students  of  Packer 
Institute,  Brooklyn,  New  York.  For  purposes  of 
comparison  the  experiments  were  made  also  upon 
two  good  spellers.  The  author  analyzes  the  spelling 
process  into  the  following  elements:  sensation  (per- 
ception); directing  of  attention;  retentiveness;  mental 
image;  automatic  circuit. 

The  test  of  the  senses  (for  perception)  revealed 
defective  vision  in  four  of  the  five  poor  spellers. 

The  mode  of  attention  was  tested  by  the  exposure 
for  one  second  of  a  card  containing  an  unpronounce- 
able combination  of  letters.  The  subject  was  re- 
quired to  write  down  the  letters  in  the  order  observed. 
This  test  was  also  given  to  forty  other  students.  The 
result  showed  three  modes  of  directing  the  attention : 

In  the  first,  two  or  three  letters  only  were  seen, 
usually  the  first,  second,  and  last.  This  mode  of 
attention  seizes  the  whole  of  an  impression  with  its 
characteristic  features.  The  bad  spellers  of  this 
type  "were  students  who  always  sought  out  the 
general  principle  and  remembered  by  means  of  it. 
Conspicuous  as  thinkers,  they  were  comparatively 
slow  readers.  Almost  all  their  mistakes  in  spelling 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  SPELLING       31 

occurred  in  the  latter  half  of  the  word.  .  .  Further 
test  made  it  clear  that  attention  was  habitually  directed 
to  the  beginning  of  the  word. " 

In  the  second  mode  of  attention,  most  of  the  letters 
were  correctly  perceived  and  in  the  right  order. 
"The  impression  made  was  that  of  a  whole  composed 
of  distinct  parts."  The  best  representative  of  this 
type  was  able  to  perceive  instantly  and  correctly  a 
combination  of  nine  letters,  but  she  failed  utterly 
in  the  tests  on  visualization  and  retention. 

In  the  third  mode,  most  of  the  letters  were  seen, 
but  the  order  was  not  known.  In  one  case  nine 
correct  letters  were  given  in  a  shuffled  order.  Here, 
apparently,  the  impression  was  of  individual  unre- 
lated parts.  This  class  furnished  no  bad  spellers. 

"  Further  tests  showed  that  the  best  natural  speller 
perceived  long  words  in  two  or  more  groups  of  letters, 
none  of  the  poor  spellers  having  this  habit."1 

No  account  is  given  of  the  test  for  memory. 

The  test  for  imaging  required  the  subject  to  spell 
the  word  backward  from  the  visual  image. 

The  automatic  circuit  was  tested  by  having  a 
paragraph  written  with  the  hand  concealed.  Mis- 

1  This  statement  is  interesting  in  connection  with  recent  discoveries  as 
to  fixation  "points"  in  reading,  as  revealed  by  the  scientific  study  of  eye- 
movements.  See  "The  Psychology  of  Reading,"  by  Dearborn.  The 
Science  Press,  New  York,  1906.  Also  see  "  The  Psychology  and  Pedagogy 
of  Reading, "  by  Huey.  Macmillan,  1908. 


32  ELEMENTARY  WORD  STUDY 

takes  were  made  of  insertion,  omission,  inversion, 
and  substitution. 
Following  are  Miss  Wyckoff's  conclusions: 

1  Many  poor  spellers  have  defective  senses. 

2  Bad  spelling  may  in  part  be  the  result  of  a  strong  natural  bent 
toward  selective  attention. 

3  In  such  cases,  where  the  syllable  method  of  teaching  might  be 
especially  ineffective,  the  mechanical  memory  would  be  helped  by 
assisting  the  attention  in  its  selection.     For  example,  above  the  word 
separate  might  be  written,  as  an  invitation  to  the  eye,  the  syllable  p-a-r. 

4  "Apperceptive  methods  should  be  employed  from  the  outset  in 
the  teaching  of  spelling.     For  the  class  of  students  mentioned  in  the 
preceding  paragraph  they  are  a  necessity;  for  all  they  are  an  economy. 
The  children  could  use  a  set  of  cards,  each  containing  a  word  so  chosen 
as  to  furnish  material  for  induction  in  the  finding  of  root,  prefix,  and 
suffix,  and  the  meaning  of  each.     Then,  using  these  as  tracers,  they 
could  notice  in  reading  and  blackboard  exercise  such  new  words  as 
contained  the  familiar  elements. "     The  words  separate,  preparatory, 
and  reparation,  are  suggested  as  samples. 

(2)  W.  A.  LAY1  This  writer  employed  non- 
sense syllables  in  his  experiments,  of  which  the  follow- 
ing are  samples:  Libug,  labog,  lubag,  ribog,  rabig, 
labeg,  guhlin.  There  were  eight  separate  tests  to 
determine  the  percentage  of  errors  the  subject  made 
in  remembering  the  spelling  of  four  of  the  nonsense 
words  under  these  eight  conditions:  i  Hearing; 
2  Hearing  with  low  speaking ;  3  Hearing  with  loud 

1  Fuher  durch  den  Rechtschreib-Unterricht,  Wiesbaden,"  1899.  An 
abstract  of  this  study  may  be  found  in  Pedagogical  Seminary,  Vol.  13, 
p.  482. 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  SPELLING       33 

speaking;  4  Seeing;  5  Seeing  with  low  speaking; 
6  Seeing  with  loud  speaking;  7  Oral  spelling; 
8  Copying. 

In  the  tests  for  hearing  and  seeing  without  speech, 
the  pupil,  when  words  were  spelled  for  him  orally 
or  in  writing,  was  required  to  inhibit  the  muscular 
movement  of  expression  by  firmly  closing  his  jaws 
and  keeping  the  vocal  organs  quiet.  In  seeing  or 
hearing  with  speech  movement  he  repeated  the 
letters  in  a  whisper  or  aloud.  The  test  included 
an  aggregate  of  some  three  thousand  individual 
experiments  on  children  from  the  first  to  the  sixth 
school  year.  The  same  experiments  to  the  number 
of  eighteen  hundred  were  made  upon  classes  of  the 
teacher's  seminary,  and  the  results  in  this  case  were 
always  similar  to  those  obtained  in  the  elementary 
school.  Taking  the  figures  of  both  investigations 
together,  the  averages  are  shown  in  the  following 
tables : 

Method  of  Testing  Per  cent  of  errors 

per  pupil 

1  Hearing,  with  speech  movement   3.04 

2  Hearing,  with  low  speaking  2.69 

3  Hearing,  with  loud  speaking    2.25 

4  Seeing,  with  speech  movement  (reading)   1.22 

5  Seeing,  with  low  speaking 1.02 

6  Seeing,  with  loud  speaking 0.95 

7  Spelling  (loud)    1.02 

8  Copying  (low  speaking) 0.54 


34  ELEMENTARY  WORD  STUDY 

Commenting  on  these  figures,  Lay  says:  "If  we 
note  the  increasing  number  of  errors,  then  the  exer- 
cises in  orthography  are  to  be  arranged  in  the  follow- 
ing order,  according  to  their  value :  Copying,  spelling 
orally,  reading  aloud,  dictation."  The  same  author 
also  made  experiments  to  determine  the  value  of 
printed  as  compared  with  script  spelling  books. 
Among  his  further  conclusions  are  the  following : 

1  In  orthography  script  spelling  books  surpass  printed  books; 
.     ,     .     they  are  almost  twice  as  valuable  as  material  for  sense  per- 
ception. 

2  Cultivation  of  correct  pronunciation  is  of  great  importance  for 
learning  orthography. 

3  As  much  as  possible  the  sense  of  a  word  (apperceptive  aid),  the 
pronunciation,  and  the  writing  must  be  united,  and  the  motor  pre- 
sentation in  writing  is  the  determining  factor. 

4  The  usual  spelling  lesson  should  be  omitted  and  forbidden  by 
law  on  account  of  the  time  wasted  by  it. 

5  Dictation  may  be  used  in  orthography  only  as  a  test  and  spar- 
ingly. 

6  The  so-called  copying  method,  the.  writing  down  of  sentences 
and  the  like,  from  memory,  is  useful,  since  it  is  most  closely  related  to 
the  orthographic  practice  in  common  life. 

7  The  knowledge  of  derivation  of  words  is  advantageous  in 
orthography  as  a  means  of  fixing  the  attention  on  word  forms. 

8  The  rules  of  spelling  are  not  directly  of  value,  but  are  useful  as 
a  means  of  fixing  the  attention  and  developing  a  critical  sense  for 
orthographic  forms. 

9  The  words  for  spelling  should  not  be  selected  according  to  a 
special  system  (as  per  spelling  book),  but  should  be  selected  from  the 
lessons  of  the  pupil. 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  SPELLING       35 

(3)  H.   H.   SCHILLER  l    At    the    suggestion    of 
Herr  Schiller  several  tests  were  made  by  two  different 
investigators  for  the  purpose  of  verifying  or  refuting 
the  results  of  Dr.  Lay.     Schiller's  conclusions  in 
general  corroborated  those  of  Lay,  and  indicated 
that  in  spelling,  sight  is  a  better  aid  than  hearing, 
and  that  in  the  case  of  both  sight  and  hearing  the 
errors  are  decreased  when  these  senses  are  reinforced 
by  speech  or  writing  movements.     Following  is  the 
order  of  the  value  of  methods  as  fixed  by  Schiller: 

1  Copying,  with  soft  speaking. 

2  Copying,  with  loud  speaking. 

3  Seeing,  with  writing  movement. 

4  Oral  spelling. 

5  Seeing,  with  speaking  aloud. 

6  Seeing,  with  soft  speaking. 

7  Seeing  alone. 

8  Hearing,  with  writing  movement. 

9  Hearing,  with  loud  speaking. 

10  Hearing,  with  soft  speaking. 

11  Hearing  alone. 

(4)  F.  W.  SMEDLEY2     Dr.    Smedley  conducted 
a  series  of  tests  to  ascertain  the  different  kinds  of 
memory  among  Chicago  school  children,  with  special 

1  Studien  und  Versuche  uber  die  Erlernung  der  Orthographic.  Samra 
V.  Abhand.  a.  d.  Gebiete  der  pad.  Pysch.  und  Phys.  II.  Bd.  4  Heft. 
Berlin,  1898.  See  Pedagogical  Seminary,  Vol.  13,  p.  485.  ' 

*  Report  of  the  Department  of  Child  Study  and  Pedagogical  Investi- 
gation, Chicago  Public  Schools,  Child  Study  Report,  No.  3. 


36  ELEMENTARY  WORD  STUDY 

reference  to  spelling.  He  used  a  series  of  digits. 
In  one  case  the  pupils  were  asked  to  reproduce  the 
digits  after  hearing  them  read;  in  another  test  they 
reproduced  the  digits  after  looking  at  them;  and 
finally  the  children  wrote  the  digits  on  paper  while 
the  series  was  dictated  and  also  exposed  on  a  card, 
the  pupils  turning  the  face  of  their  paper  downward 
at  the  close  of  the  dictation  and  reproducing  the 
series  from  memory  on  test  paper.  It  was  found 
impossible  to  test  different  memories  as  isolated 
powers,  for  the  reason  that  in  spite  of  admonitions 
to  the  contrary  the  pupils  moved  their  lips  and  throats 
while  the  hearing  and  sight  tests  were  made.  Among 
Dr.  Smedley's  inferences  are  these: 

1  There  is  probably  a  place  for  oral  spelling. 

2  There  should  be  some  prpnunciation  of  syllables  with  spelling. 

3  The  words  presented  to  the  child  at  first  should  be,  as  far  as 
possible,  phonetic  in  their  spelling,  the  more  unusual  forms  being  re- 
served for  later  years  when  the  eye  memory  has  become  stronger. 

4  The  spelling  of  words  is  rendered  automatic  through  practice 
in  writing  them. 

(5)  H.  E.  KRATZ*  The  experiments  of  Lay 
and  Schiller  were  repeated  in  America  by  Mr.  Kratz, 
who  has  published  his  results  in  a  book.  He 
used  English  nonsense  words  of  ten  letters  each, 

"'Studies  and  Observations  in  the  School-room."     H.  E.  Kratz, 
Educational  Publishing  Company,  Boston,  1907. 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  SPELLING       37 

and  made  the  following  three  tests  upon 
743  elementary  school  pupils:  (a)  the  auditory; 
(6)  the  visual;  (c)  and  the  audo- visual.  For  the 
first,  ten  words  were  used,  the  letters  of  which  were 
pronounced  slowly  and  distinctly,  the  pupil  being 
required  to  write  immediately  the  letters  named  in 
the  correct  order.  In  the  second  test,  the  words 
were  printed  on  cards  and  held  up  for  a  few  moments 
before  the  pupil,  who  was  then  commanded  to  write 
what  he  had  seen.  The  children  were  cautioned 
not  to  use  their  lips,  but  in  spite  of  their  efforts  to 
inhibit  muscular  movements  they  exhibited  a  strong 
tendency  to  whisper  the  letters  to  themselves.  It  will 
be  remembered  that  Schiller  came  upon  the  same 
important  fact.  In  the  audo- visual  test  appeal  was 
made  to  eye  and  ear  by  holding  up  the  card  and 
requiring  the  pupils  to  repeat  the  letters  in  concert. 
Following  are  the  results  of  these  three  tests : 

Method  Per  cent  of  correct  results 

1  Auditory    44.8 

2  Visual 66.2 

3  Audo-Visual 73.7 

Upon  these  data  and  others  obtained  by  an  ex- 
periment as  to  the  relation  of  the  general  power  of 
observation  to  the  spelling  habit,  Mr.  Kratz  bases 
the  following  inferences: 


38  ELEMENTARY  WORD  STUDY 

1  Poor  spelling  is  largely  due  to  inability  to  picture  the  word  cor- 
rectly in  the  "mind's  eye"  and  this  inability  is  largely  due  to  careless 
or  weak  observation. 

2  Defective  vision  is  often  a  serious  handicap. 

3  The  average  child  retains  more  from  visual  than  from  auditory 
impressions.    Therefore  in  the  preparation  of  the  spelling  lesson  we 
must  lead  him  to  appeal  as  strongly  as  possible  to  his  sense  of  sight. 

4  In  primary  grades  the  spelling  lesson  should  be  studied  with 
the  assistance  of  the  teacher  at  the  blackboard.    Words  should  be 
written,  shown  for  a  moment,  then  erased  or  hidden  while  the  children 
write. 

5  In  all  grades  teachers  should  vary  the  spelling  exercises  by  re- 
quiring about  two-fifths  of  the  words  to  be  spelled  orally,  with  syl- 
labication and  pronunciation  of  syllables. 

(6)  EDWARD  R.  SHAW  The  late  Dr.  Edward 
R.  Shaw  repeated  the  experiments  of  Kratz  about 
the  same  time  that  Lay  was  making  his  tests  in 
Germany.  He  does  not  publish  a  table  of  results, 
but  states  that  some  two  thousand  children  were 
examined  with  nonsense  words.  Among  his  con- 
clusions are  these : 

1  The  strong  tendency  of  children  to  use  the  lips  in  spelling  to 
themselves  is  significant  in  suggesting  that  the  motor  speech  apparatus 
should  be  turned  to  use  in  learning  to  spell. 

2  Preparation  for  spelling  should  be  oral,  while  the  final  test  should 
be  written. 

3  Spelling  is  a  matter  of  association;  and  the  eye,  the  ear,  and  the 
motor  elements  must  be  appealed  to. 

'The  Spelling  Question  in  "Three  Studies  in  Education."     E.  L. 
Kellogg  Co.,  New  York,  1899. 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  SPELLING       39 

(7)  DR.  J.  M.  RICE  In  the  April  and  June 
numbers  of  the  Forum  for  1897,  Dr.  Rice  published 
the  results  of  an  extensive  and  thorough  investigation 
of  spelling  in  twenty-one  schools  representing  every 
section  of  the  United  States.  Over  thirty-three 
thousand  children  were  tested,  fifty  words  being 
given  to  fourth  and  fifth  year  classes,  and  seventy- 
five  words  to  the  sixth,  seventh,  and  eighth  year 
classes.  He  also  tested  the  spelling  of  many  of  the 
children  by  means  of  a  composition  based  on  a 
story  prepared  for  the  purpose.  Following  are  the 
words  used  in  the  two  tests: 

(a)  Fourth   and   fifth   years:  running,    slipped, 
listened,  queer,  speech,  believe,  weather,  changeable, 
whistling,  frightened,  always,  changing,  chain,  loose, 
baking,  piece,  receive,  laughter,  distance,  choose, 
strange,  picture,  because,  thought,  purpose,  learn, 
lose,  almanac,  neighbor,  writing,  language,  careful, 
enough,  necessary,  waiting,  disappoint,  often,  covered, 
mixture,    getting,    better,    feather,    light,    deceive, 
driving,  surface,  rough,  smooth,  hopping,  certainly. 

(b)  Sixth,  seventh,  and  eighth  years :    Tne  above 
list  with  the  following  omitted:  because,  thought, 
writing,   language,    feather,    light,    surface,    rough, 
smooth;  and  the  following  added:  grateful,  elegant, 
present,  patience,  succeed,  severe,  accident,  some- 
times, sensible,  business,  answer,  sweeping,  properly, 


40  ELEMENTARY  WORD  STUDY 

improvement,  fatiguing,  anxious,  appreciate,  assure, 
imagine,  peculiar,  character,  guarantee,  approval, 
intelligent,  experience,  delicious,  realize,  importance, 
occasion,  exceptions,  thoroughly,  conscientious,  there- 
fore, ascending,  praise,  wholesome. 

These  words  were  not  dictated  in  columns,  but 
were  included  in  sentences,  e.  g.,  "While  running 
he  slipped.  I  listened  to  his  queer  speech,  but  I 
did  not  notice  any  of  it. " 

The  schools  tested  represented  every  degree  of 
excellence,  all  sorts  of  methods,  all  kinds  of  pupils, 
and  many  diversities  of  street  and  home  environment, 
and  of  nationality.  The  time  devoted  to  spelling 
in  the  several  schools  varied  from  six  minutes  a  day 
to  fifty  minutes  a  day. 

1  The  author  arrives  at  the  sweeping  conclusion 
that  none  oj  these  things  make  any  difference  in  the 
spelling.     "In  brief,"  he  adds,  "there  is  no  direct 
relation  between  method  and  results.     The  results 
varied  as  much  under  the  same  as  they  did  under 
different  methods  of  instruction."    He  says  there 
is  no  clear  choice  between  oral  and  written  spelling 
or  between  writing  isolated  words  and  writing  sen- 
tences.    Phonic  reading  does  not  make  bad  spellers, 
nor  do  written  language  work  and  wide  general 
reading  make  good  spellers. 

2  A  second  inference  made  by  Dr.  Rice,  is  ex- 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  SPELLING        41 

pressed  in  the  following  words:  "The  facts  here 
presented,  in  my  opinion,  will  admit  of  only  one 
conclusion,  viz.,  that  the  results  are  not  determined 
by  the  methods  employed,  but  by  the  ability  of  those 
who  use  them.  In  other  words,  the  first  place 
must  be  given  to  the  personal  equation  of  the 
teacher,  while  methods  and  devices  play  a  subor- 
dinate part. " 

3  Dr.  Rice  maintains  further  that  with  fifteen 
minutes  of  instruction  each  day  children  will 
learn  just  as  much  spelling  as  if  they  have 
more;  and  hence  anything  above  this  limit  is  time 
wasted. 

(8)  Miss  E.  K.  CARMEN1  Dr.  Edward  L. 
Thorndyke  of  Columbia  University,  in  comment- 
ing on  the  work  of  Dr.  Rice  (which  upon  the 
whole  he  pronounces  excellent),  says  we  may  add 
another  lesson  gained  from  a  mistake  of  the 
author's.  He  refers  to  Dr.  Rice's  conclusion  that 
methods,  devices,  nationality,  environment,  quality 
of  school,  etc.,  have  no  causal  relation  to  suc- 
cess in  spelling.  "Dr.  Rice's  desertion  of  facts 
for  opinion,"  says  the  critic,  "was  hasty,  for 
there  are  real  causes  for  good  and  bad  spell- 
ing other  than  the  one  he  opines"  (personal 

1  Teachers'  College  Record,  May,  1901,  p.  87.     Columbia  University 
Press,  New  York. 


42  ELEMENTARY  WORD  STUDY 

equation  of  the  teacher).  Dr.  Thorndyke  then 
proceeds  to  quote  from  the  study  of  Miss  Carmen1 
to  substantiate  his  contention.  This  lady  started 
with  the  hypothesis  that  poor  spelling  is  due  to  poor 
observation  of  the  words.  The  subjects  of  the 
experiment  were  sixteen  adults,  all  of  whom  had 
completed  a  high  school  course  and  had  spent  two 
years  more  in  study.  There  were  eight  good  spellers 
and  eight  poor  ones.  The  test  was  a  printed  page 
from  Appleton's  Fourth  Reader,  containing  one 
hundred  misspelled  words.  The  subjects  were 
asked  to  go  through  the  paper  as  quickly  as  possible 
and  mark  each  misspelled  word.  The  results  were 
as  follows: 

Time  in  seconds  Words  omitted 

Good  spellers  (average) 130.1    8.9 

Poor  spellers  (average)   199.6    28.1 

1  Miss  Carmen's  inference  is  that  ability  to  spell 
probably  implies  not  a  general  habit  or  power  of  ob- 
servation, but  a  special  ability  to  notice  small  dif- 
ferences in  words. 

2  Dr.  Thorndyke  adds:  "Whether  any  specific 
methods  can  be  used  in  the  class-room  to  secure  the 
habit    of  attention  to  the   spelling  of  words  dur- 
ing  reading  is  still   a  question.     It  would  seem 
likely." 

1  Journal  of  Pedagogy,  October,  1900. 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  SPELLING       43 

3  By  way  of  criticism  on  Miss  Carmen's  inference, 
Dr.  William  H.  Burnham  says:1  "Miss  Carmen  is 
probably  right  in  this  inference,  but  a  number  of  other 
factors  doubtless  contribute  to  the  ability  to  spell 
well  as  suggested  by  the  complexity  of  the  mental 
process.  Whether  poor  power  of  observation  for 
small  differences  in  words  is  the  cause  of  the  ina- 
bility to  spell,  or  whether  improper  training  in  spell- 
ing is  one  cause  of  the  lack  of  observation  for  small 
differences,  there  is  at  least  an  interesting  correlation 
here.  It  is  probable,  however,  that  the  special 
training  in  spelling  does  not  contribute  to  general 
power  of  observation."  Miss  Carmen,  Dr.  Thorn- 
dyke,  and  Dr.  Burnham,  therefore  agree  that  Mr. 
Kratz's  inference  is  erroneous,  when  he  argues  that 
"nature  study  is  tending  to  improve  our  spelling."2 
Dr.  Thorndyke3  also  calls  attention  to  the  fact  that 
Miss  Wyckoff  refers  poor  spelling  to  a  "quality  of 
aatention  in  general  rather  than  to  a  particular  habit 
of  attending  to  words. " 

(9)  OLIVER  P.  CORNMAN*  Mr.  Gorman  made 
the  following  kinds  of  tests: 

1  Pedagogical  Seminary,  Vol.  13,  p.  498. 

'"Studies  and  Observations  in  the  School-room,"  p.  140.     Educa- 
tional Publishing  Company,  Boston,  1907. 

'Teachers'  College  Record,  May,  1901,  p.  87. 

*"Spelling  in  the  Elementary  Schools."     Ginn  &  Co.,  Boston,  1902 


44  ELEMENTARY  WORD  STUDY 

(a)  Lists  of  spontaneously  selected  words  —  the  largest  number 
that  could  be  written  in  fifteen  minutes. 

(b)  Lists  of  specially  selected  words  written  in  vertical  columns 
from  the  dictation  of  the  teacher. 

(c)  Series  of  short  sentences  (containing  selected  words)  written 
from  the  dictation  of  the  teacher. 

(d)  Spelling  papers  of  the  regular  term  examination  set  by  the 
superintendent  of  schools. 

(«)  Compositions  and  other  written  exercises  of  the  regular  school- 
room work. 

(a)  The  Fifteen-minute  Test  Only  the  first  of 
these  tests  was  studied  with  a  view  to  the  psychology 
of  the  subject.  Great  care  was  taken  to  secure 
uniformity  of  conditions.  A  simple  set  of  explicit 
directions  was  prepared  and  read  to  the  pupils,  who 
were  told  to  begin  at  a  given  signal  and  write  as  many 
words  as  they  could,  using  any  words  at  all  that  they 
might  happen  to  think  of.  These  words  were  written 
in  vertical  columns,  and  at  the  end  of  fifteen  minutes 
the  signal  to  stop  was  given  and  the  papers  were 
collected.  The  tests  were  given  in  June  three  years 
in  succession  in  the  same  schools. 

Following  is  a  specimen  table,  slightly  modified, 
showing  the  kind  of  results  obtained: 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  SPELLING       45 
North  West  School    Fijteen-minuteTest    June,  1897 
TABLE  I 


School 
Year 

No.  of  Pupils 

Average  No.  of 
words  per  pupil 

Per  cent  Spelled 
Correctly 

Boys 

Girls 

Boys 

Girls 

Boys 

Girls 

8th 
7th 
6th 
5th  a 
5th  b 
4th  a 
4th  b 
3d  a 
3d  b 

33 
26 

53 
24 
38 

23 
16 

19 

24 

46 
28 
69 
18 
3i 
23 
16 

20 
19 

245 
239 

202 
169 
I63 
138 
164 
132 
69 

212 

186 

201 
189 
132 
154 
136 
101 

81 

95-8 
95-2 
92.6 

92.3 
94-3 
90.1 

95-2 
91.4 
88.1 

98 
97-4 
96.8 

95-8 
95 
94-2 
95-3 
94-4 
92 

Totals 

256 

270 

Average  or 
per  cent 

179 

169 

93-4 

96.1 

The  inferences  drawn  by  Mr.  Cornman  from  a 
series  of  tables  like  the  above  are  briefly  as  follows : 

1  The  pupils  in  the  elementary  school  increase 
regularly  from  grade  to  grade  in  the  quantity  and 
quality  of  their  spontaneously  written  words,  and  in 
accuracy  of  spelling. 

2  The  average  results  established  by  this  method 
are  constant  within  small  limits  of  variation  and 
may  be  utilized  as  normals  to  compare  the  work  of 


46  ELEMENTARY  WORD  STUDY 

individuals  or  of  classes,  under  varying  pedagogical 
conditions. 

3  The  boys  show  a  more  rapid  rate  of  movement 
than  girls,  but  the  girls  excel  markedly  in  legibility 
and  correctness  of  spelling. 

4  The  difference  of  results  in  the  sexes  is  ac- 
counted for  by  the  conclusion  that  the  boys  followed 
the  directions  "to  write  as  many  words  as  they  could." 
They  were  more  interested  in  the  quantity  than  the 
quality  of  their  productions,  while  the  girls  fell  short 
of  the  quantity  by  their  conscientious  attention  to 
details  of  execution.    These  conclusions  are  sup- 
ported by  the  fact  that  the  boys  had  more  illegible 
and  nonsense  words  than  the  girls,  and  the  girls  had 
many  more  careful  erasures  and  substitutions  than 
the  boys. 

5  The  pedagogical  corollary  may  be  drawn  here 
fhat  boys  need  training  in  attention  to  details,  and 

iris  require  stimulation  to  the  accomplishment  of 
larger  purposes. 

6  The  rate  of  movement  and  the  accuracy  of  spell- 
ing tend  to  vary  together,  and  both  are  functions 
of  general  mental  capacity. 

(b)  Analysis  oj  Errors  The  examination  and 
classification  of  errors  of  spelling  found  in  the  spon- 
taneously written  words  of  the  children  is  probably 
Mr.  Cornman's  most  valuable  contribution  to  the 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  SPELLING       47 

psychology  of  spelling.  The  scheme  of  classification 
was  worked  out  in  the  psychological  laboratory  of 
the  University  of  Pennsylvania  by  Professor  Light- 
ner  Witmer,  Dr.  Oscar  Gerson,  and  Mr.  Oliver  P. 
Cornman.  It  was  discovered  by  these  investigators 
that  the  characteristic  spelling  errors  bear  an  essential 
similarity  to  the  phenomena  of  aphasia.  The  general 
type  of  mental  activity  is  analogous  to  the  function 
of  a  ganglion  with  its  afferent  and  efferent  nerve- 
attachments.  If  there  is  any  disorder  in  the  afferent 
nerve,  or  the  sensory  elements  which  convey  the 
impulse  to  the  central  organ,  the  ganglion  cannot 
perform  its  proper  function.  If  the  difficulty  is  in 
the  efferent  nerve,  or  any  of  the  elements  involved  in 
motor  expression,  the  ganglionic  function  is  inter- 
rupted. Now,  aphasia  is  the  total  "inability  or 
partial  disability  of  an  individual  to  make  outward 
expression  of  thoughts,  feelings,  or  other  states  of 
consciousness,  whether  such  disability  result  from 
interference  with  the  formation  of  the  mental  content 
or  the  emission  of  it. 3>I 

"Spelling  is  a  sensori-motor  habit  which  expresses 
itself  in  every  concrete  instance  of  the  spelling  of  a 
word  as  a  synthetized  motorial  reaction  following, 
at  more  or  less  remote  temporal  intervals,  certain 

1  Collins,  Joseph :  "  The  Faculty  of  Speech. "     Macmillan,  New  York, 


48  ELEMENTARY  WORD  STUDY 

complicated  sensory  stimulations."1  Errors  in  or- 
thography are  therefore  more  instructive  than  cor- 
rectly spelled  words,  because  they  may  be  viewed  as  a 
mild  form  of  aphasia.  Mr.  Cornman's  plan  of  classi- 
fication is  based  upon  the  aphasic  conception  of 
spelling  errors : 

TABLE  II 

Analytic  Classification  of  2851  Spelling  Errors 

(Modified) 
Number  of  Pupils  Boys  251        Girls  251 

I    Motor  Inco-ordination  Total,  Boys  and  Girls 


i     Omission 

409 

2    Addition 

183 

3    Change 

178 

4    M  and  N 

109 

5    Transposition 

193 

6    Wrong  letter  doubled 

18 

7    Attraction  (S-M) 

150 

8    Attraction  (I-M) 

48 

Total 



1288 

II 

9    Complication 

"5 

III 

Sensory  Inco-ordination 

(a)    Phonetic 

10    Standard 

233 

1  1    Local  and  Individual 

364 

(b)    Confusing 

12    ei,  ie,  or,  er,  etc. 

460 

13    Doubling 

145 

14    Non  -Doubling 

151 

(c)i5    Unclassified 

85 

Total 

—~— 

1438 

Grand  Total 

2851 

1  Cormnan,  p.  5. 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  SPELLING       49 

(c)    Explanation  of  Table  II. 

MOTOR  INCO-ORDINATION  "  All  those  classes  of 
errors  whose  commission  seems  to  have  been  pre- 
dominantly determined  by  defect  in  motor  process. " 

1  Omission     Where  one  or  more  links  (letters 
or  syllables)  in  the  chain  of  associations  are  dropped 
out;  e.g.,   hoase    (hoarse),    Main    (Maine),   tortose 
(tortoise),  sureying  (surveying). 

2  Addition      "Where    one    or   more   supernu- 
merary letters  or  syllables  appear;  e.g.,  wolfe  (wolf), 
tarble  (table),  pianono  (piano)." 

3  Change     "Where  a  letter  is  so  incompletely 
formed  as  to  constitute  a  different  letter,  or  where 
one  letter  is  unaccountably  substituted  for  another; 
e.g.,  trumb  (thumb),  crach  (crack),  sise  (six)." 

4  M  and  N     "The  confusion  of  m  and  n  for 
each  other  is  a  special  case  of  3;  e.g.,  swin  (swim), 
primpts  (prints),  Jin  (Jim)." 

5  Transposition     Where  letters  or  syllables  are 
transposed;  e.g.,  aminal  (animal),  chian  (chain),  gril 

(girl). 

6  Wrong   Letter    Doubled    This    is    an    error 
related  to  5.    The  doubling  is  shifted  to  the  wrong 
letter;  e.g.,  speel  (spell),  dool  (doll). 

7  Attraction   (Sensori-motor)     "A  letter  or  ar- 
rangement of  letters  in  a  previously  written  word  calls 
out  a  similar  form  where  it  should  not  occur;  e.g., 


So  ELEMENTARY  WORD  STUDY 

roap  (rope)  follows  soap;  does  (clothes)  follows 
shoes;  or  a  prominent  letter  in  a  word  calls  out  an 
incorrect  repetition  of  that  letter  or  a  substitution 
of  it  for  a  correct  letter  in  a  latter  part  or  syllable  of 
the  same  word;  e.g.,  Missiouri  (Missouri),  sunsut 
(sunset)." 

8  Attraction  (Idea-Motor)     "A  letter  or  arrange- 
ment of  letters  in  a  succeeding  word  calls  out  a  wrong 
form.     Both  words  have  been  held  together  in  idea, 
but  the  order  of  subscription  has  not  followed  the 
order  of  ideation;  e.g.,  groop  (group)  precedes  troop, 
stateau  (statue)  precedes  plateau." 

9  Complication     "Those     errors    which     seem 
to  be  due  to  a  combination  of  defective  functioning  of 
both  sensorial  recall  and  motorial  expression."     It 
usually  results  in  a  mere  jumble  of  letters;  e.g., 
amanole  (animal),  pienishel  (peninsula). 

SENSORY  INCO-ORDINATION  "All  those  classes 
of  errors  whose  commission  seems  to  have  been 
determined  by  defect  in  sensory  processes,  the  literal 
association  having  been  improperly  formed;  or,  if 
properly  formed,  forgotten  or  changed  from  the 
conventional  order."  Of  this  class  of  errors  there 
are  three  kinds:  Phonetic,  Confusing,  Unclassified. 
Of  the  phonetic  class  there  are  two  sub-classes  (10 
and  n)  and  of  the  confusing  class  there  are  three 
sub-classes  (12,  13,  14). 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  SPELLING       51 

10  Standard     This  is  a  case  of  phonetic  sensory 
inco-ordination  "where  the  spelling  is  largely  deter- 
mined by  phonetic  analogies  and  on  the  basis  of  an 
approximately  standard  pronunciation;  e.g.,  Wens- 
day  (Wednesday),  scolar  (scholar),  ismus  (isthmus). " 

11  Local  and  Individual     A  case  of  error  be- 
longing to  the  phonetic-sensory-inco-ordination  class 
"where  a  more  or  less  faulty  or  incorrect  pronuncia- 
tion   ...    is  the  basis  on  which  the  attempt  to 
follow    phonetic    analogy    is    made;  e.g.,    chimley 
(chimney),  hooken-later  (hook  and  ladder),  Henery 
(Henry)." 

12  Ei,  ie;  er,  or,  etc.      Sensory  inco-ordination 
of  the  "confusing"  class  has  several  varieties.     One 
arises  from  the  confusion  of  ie  and  ei;  tion,  sion; 
or,  ar,  er;  ey,  y;  able,  ible,  etc. ;  e.g.  grammer  (gram- 
mar), liley  (lily),  etc. 

13  Doubling     A  second  species  of  "confusion" 
is  using  double  letters  for  single  ones;  e.g.,  Hellen 
(Helen),  gass  (gas),  Pannama  (Panama). 

14  Non-Doubling     The    third    kind   of   "con- 
fusion" is  the  reverse  of  the  preceding,  omitting  to 
double  a  letter;  e.g.,  galons  (gallons),  weding  (wed- 
ding). 

15  Unclassified     "Includes  all  those  errors  not 
treated  under  any  of  the  other  classes;  e.g.,  Scuylkill 
(Schuylkill),  handerchief  (handkerchief),  etc." 


52  ELEMENTARY  WORD  STUDY 

(d)    Inferences  Drawn  from  tlie  Study  oj  Errors. 

1  Boys  show  a  larger  percentage  (54.8)  of  motorial 
inco-ordination  than  girls   (44.8).    This  excess  of 
error  by  defect  of  motor  process  on  the  part  of  boys 
may  be  accounted  for  by  the  direction  of  their  attention 
to  the  completion  of  a  word  as  a  whole,  while  the 
superiority  of  the  girls  may  conversely  be  ascribed  to 
their  care  in  the  formation  of  each  letter.     The  same 
considerations  account  for  the  fact  that  boys  write 
more  words  than  girls,  but  girls  are  better  spellers. 

2  The  practical  effect  for  good  of  the  teaching 
of  spelling  rules  is  a  question  of  method,  which  itself 
needs  investigation. 

3  There  is  no  "  best  method  "  of  teaching  spelling. 
Educational  progress  has  been  seriously  retarded 
by    the    exploitation    of    panacea    methods.     Oral 
spelling,  written  spelling,  syllabic  spelling,  "photo- 
graphic" spelling  (spelling  a  word  after  it  has  been 
photographed  upon  the  mind  by  a  single  glance!), 
have   all  been  severally  championed   as   possessing 
exclusive  pedagogic  virtue. 

4  "The  wise  teacher  will  acquaint  herself  with 
as  many  methods  and  devices  as  possible,  and  change 
from  one  to  the  other,  in  order  to  relieve  the  tedium 
and  meet  the  needs  of  individual  children,"  some  of 
whom  belong  to  the  visual  type,  some  to  the  auditory, 
some  to  the  motor,  and  some  to  the  mixed. 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  SPELLING        53 

5  The  difference  in  results  in  spelling  would  seem 
to  lie,  not  in  specific  method,  but  in  effectiveness  of 
administration,  i.e.,  the   personal    efficiency  of  the 
teacher  or  principal. 

6  The  specific  spelling  lesson,  taught,  studied, 
and  recited  in  oral  or  written  form,  is  but  a  trifling 
proportion  of  the  total  stimulation  afforded  by  the 
environmental  influences  of  school,  home,  and  out- 
door life  to  which  the  average  pupil  is  subjected. 
In  school  almost  every  lesson  is  contributory  to  spell- 
ing, and  every  written  or  printed  word  which  is  seen 
in  street  advertisement  or  is  met  with  in  home  reading 
registers  its  effect  upon  the  mind  of  the  pupil. 

7  We  may  regard  the  complex  act  of  writing 
connected   discourse    (the  ultimate  goal   of  school 
training  in  spelling)  as  an  entire  situation  which 
should  be  departed  from  in  practice  as  little  as  pos- 
sible.    Hence  the  spelling  lesson  should  most  fre- 
quently take  the  form  of  connected  written  discourse. 

8  "These  conclusions  indicate  the  comparative 
unimportance  of  the  spelling  drill  as  contributory 
to  accuracy  in  spelling. " 


IV 

Conclusions  Derived  From  the  Nature, 
Value,  and  Psychology  of  Spelling 

From  the  Nature  of  Spelling 

1  The  process  of  spelling  involves  a  knowledge 
of  the  following  elements:  pronunciation,  syllabica- 
tion, capitalization,  abbreviations,  contractions,  com- 
pounds, plurals,  possessives. 

2  The  necessity  for  spelling  arises  as  soon  as  the 
child  is  required  to  write  words  and  sentences.     This 
locates  the  beginning  of  spelling  in  about  the  second 
year  of  school. 

3  On  account  of  the  oriental  origin  of  our  alpha- 
bet, the  Norman  conquest  of  England,  the  variant 
practice  of  authors  and  copyists,  and  the  vagaries  of 
printers  before  the  era  of  dictionaries,  English  orthog- 
raphy is  arbitrary;  and  therefore  the  speller  is  assisted 
but  slightly  by  reason  and  rules. 

4  Spelling  is  not  a  culture  study,  but  a  necessary 
art,  which  should  be  made  automatic  as  soon  as  pos- 
sible. 

54 


CONCLUSIONS  DERIVED  55 

5  Spelling  has  an  important  conventional  value. 
One  receives  little  credit  for  being  a  good  speller, 
but  is  in  danger  of  losing  position  and  prestige  for 
being  a  poor  one. 

From  the  Psychology  of  Spelling 

6  The  knowledge  of  the  derivation  of  words  is 
advantageous  in  orthography  as  a  means  of  fixing 
the  attention  on  word  forms  (Lay,  Wyckoff). 

7  According  to  Lay,  the  various  ways  of  pre- 
paring a  spelling  lesson  rank  in  the  following  order, 
beginning  with  the  most  efficacious: 

(1)  Copying  (with  low  speaking). 

(2)  Spelling  orally  (loud). 

(3)  Seeing  (with  speech  movement  —  reading.)  . 

8  In  orthography,  script  spelling  books  surpass 
printed  books:  they  are  about  twice  as  valuable  as 
material  for  sense  perception  (Lay). 

9  Cultivation  of  correct  pronunciation  is  of  great 
importance  for  learning  orthography  (Lay,  Smedley). 

10  As  much  as  possible  the  sense  of  a  word  (ap- 
perceptive  aid),  the  pronunciation,  and  the  writing 
must  be  united,  and  the  motor  presentation  in  writing 
is  the  determining  factor  (Lay,  Shaw,  etc.). 

1 1  Dictation  should  be  used  in  spelling  only  as  a 
test  (Lay). 


56  ELEMENTARY  WORD  STUDY 

12  The    so-called    copying    method,    including 
the  writing  down  of  sentences  from  memory,  is  useful 
since  it  is  most  closely  related  to  the  orthographic 
practice  in  common  life. 

13  The  words  for  spelling  should  not  be  selected 
according  to  a  special  system  (as  per  spelling  book), 
but  should  be  selected  from  the  lessons  of  the  pupil 
(Lay). 

14  The  words  presented  to  the  child  at  first  should 
be,  as  far  as  possible,  phonetic  in  their  spelling,  the 
more  unusual  forms  being  reserved  for  later  years 
(Smedley). 

15  The  spelling  of  words  is   made  automatic 
through  practice  in  writing  them  (Smedley). 

1 6  The  average  child  retains  more  from  visual 
than  from  auditory  impressions  (see  No.  7). 

17  The  strong  tendency  of  children  to  use  the 
lips  in  spelling  to  themselves  is  significant  in  sug- 
gesting that  the  motor  speech  apparatus  should  be 
turned  to  use  in  learning  to  spell  (Shaw;  see  No.  7). 

18  Spelling  is  a  matter  of  association,  and  the 
more  clues  there  are  for  memory,  the  better  are  the 
chances  of  recall  (see  No.  7).     Hence  as  many  senses 
as  possible  should  be  employed  in  learning  to  spell. 

19  Results   in  spelling  are  determined  not  so 
much  by  the  methods  employed  as  by  the  ability  of 
those  who  use  them  (Rice);  in  other  words,  results 


CONCLUSIONS  DERIVED  57 

depend  chiefly  upon  effectiveness  of  administration 
(Cornman). 

20  Ability  to  spell  probably  implies  not  a  general 
habit  or  power  of  observation,  but  a  special  ability 
to  notice  small  differences  in  words  (Carmen).     Mr. 
Kratz  is  therefore  wrong  when  he  argues  that  "nature 
study  is  tending  to  improve  our  spelling. " 

21  The  pupils  in  the  elementary  school  increase 
regularly  from  grade  to  grade  in  the  quantity  and 
quality  of  their  spontaneously  written  words,  and  in 
accuracy  of  spelling  (Cornman). 

22  Boys  show  a  more  rapid  rate  of  movement 
(in  spontaneously  written  words)   than  girls,   but 
girls  excel  markedly  in  legibility  and  correctness  of 
spelling  (Cornman). 

23  The  rate  of  movement  and  accuracy  of  spelling 
tend  to  move  together,  and  both  are  functions  of 
general  mental  capacity  (Cornman). 

24  Boys,  show   a   larger   percentage    (54.8)    of 
motorial  inco-ordination  (errors  of  spelling  due  to 
motor  defect)  than  girls  (44.8).     This  excess  of  error 
on  the  part  of  boys  may  be  accounted  for  by  the 
direction  of  their  attention  to  the  completion  of  a  word 
as  a  whole,  while  the  superiority  of  the  girls  may  be 
ascribed  to  their  care  in  the  formation  of  each  letter 
(Cornman). 

25  The  practical  effect  of  the  teaching  of  spelling 


58  ELEMENTARY  WORD  STUDY 

rules  is  a  question  of  method,  which  itself  needs 
investigation  (Cornman;    see  No.  3). 

26  There  is  no  "best  method"  of  spelling  (Corn- 
man). 

27  The  wise  teacher  will  acquaint  herself  with  as 
many  methods  and  devices  as  possible,  and  change 
from  one  to  the  other,  so  as  to  adapt  herself  to  the 
various  types  of  children;  namely,  the  visual,  the 
auditory,  the  motor,  and  the  mixed  (Cornman). 

28  The  specific  spelling  lesson  in  school  is  but  a 
trifling  proportion  of  the  total  stimulation  afforded 
by  the  environmental  influences  of  school,  home,  and 
outdoor  life.    In  school  every  lesson  is  contributory  to 
spelling,  and  every  written  or  printed  word  which  is 
seen  in  street  advertisement  or  home  reading  registers 
its  effect  upon  the  mind  of  the  pupil  (Cornman). 

29  We  may  regard  the  complex  act  of  writing 
connected  discourse   (the  ultimate  goal  of  school 
training  in  writing)   as  an  entire  situation  which 
should  be  departed  from  as  little  as  possible.     Hence 
the  spelling  lesson  should  most  frequently  take  the 
form  of  connected  written  discourse  (Cornman). 

30  Evidence  points  to  the  comparative  unimpor- 
tance of  the  spelling  drill  as  contributory  to  accuracy 
in  spelling  (Rice,  Cornman).     Lay  goes  so  far  as  to 
say  that  the  traditional  spelling  lesson  should  be 
omitted  and  forbidden  by  law,  on  account  of  the  time 
wasted  by  it. 


V 

Methods  of  Teaching  Spelling 

I  The  Selection  of  Words 

The  first  question  that  the  spelling  problem  pre- 
sents is  the  selection  of  words  to  be  spelled.  "What 
shall  we  spell?"  must  be  answered  before  "How 
shall  we  spell  ?"  This  brings  us  at  once  face  to  face 
with  the  question  of  the  spelling  book. 

(i)  ARGUMENTS  IN  FAVOR  OF  THE  SPELLING 
BOOK  The  arguments  in  favor  of  the  spelling 
book  are  many.  Here  are  a  few : 

(a)  The  spelling  book  is  convenient  and  syste- 
matic. It  presents  a  ready-made  list  of  words  which, 
it  is  assumed,  the  children  ought  to  know.  "In  the 
spelling  book  and  its  proper  use  seems-  to  rest  the 
hope  of  the  coming  generation  of  spellers.  Yet  too 
many  of  the  spelling  books  now  in  use  are  thrown 
together  on  no  recognizable  principle  and  afford  no 
opportunity  to  the  pupil  to  discover  a  relation  between 
his  lesson  and  his  own  attainments.  What  is  im- 
portant is  that  he  form  the  habit  of  spelling  accurately 

59 


60  ELEMENTARY  WORD  STUDY 

the  words  that  belong  to  his  range  of  thought,  and 
that  he  continue  the  process  when  he  advances  to 
higher  studies.  We  may  therefore  urge  that  the 
territory  to  be  covered  by  the  spelling  course  should 
be  narrowed  as  much  as  possible,  and  that  words 
that  offer  no  difficulty  and  words  that  offer  too  great 
difncuty  should  alike  be  weeded  out.  There  remains, 
then,  a  fundamental  vocabulary  which  belongs  to 
everyone  who  speaks  or  writes  at  all.  This  vocabu- 
lary is  not  capable  of  precise  delimitation  according 
to  the  school  grade  of  the  pupil,  but  it  can  be  roughly 
determined  by  co-operative  study  on  the  part  of 
teachers. " x 

(b)  The  author  of  a  spelling-book  is  more  likely 
to  possess  the  intelligence  necessary  to  insure  a  good 
selection  than  the  average  teacher  or  principal. 

(c)  Words  selected  at  random  in  the  schoolroom 
are  unsystematic  and  not  graded  in  the  order  of 
difficulty. 

(d)  Again,  words  selected  at  random  to  meet  the 
demands  of  the  class-room  are  not  likely  to  meet  the 
requirements  of  later  life  as  well  as  those  selected 
after  a  discriminating  consideration  of  all  the  words 
in  the  language. 

(e)  To  the  foregoing  arguments  we  may  add, 

'Wm.  E.  Mead,  Wesleyan  University,  Middletown,  Conn.,  on  "Is 
Spelling  a  Lost  Art  ?"  in  Educational  Review,  Vol.  19,  p.  49. 


finally,  that  the  children,  in  copying  words  into  their 
note-books,  frequently  make  mistakes,  and  thus 
have  the  wrong  form  impressed  upon  the  memory. 
Furthermore,  this  copying  consumes  no  small 
amount  of  time  which  might  be  more  profitably 
employed. 

(2)  ARGUMENTS  AGAINST  THE  SPELLING  BOOK 
Some  of  the  objections  against  the  spelling  book  are 
the  following: 

(a)  The  first  is  that  it  violates  the  principle  of 
utility.  A  list  of  words  selected  for  the  average 
child  does  not  satisfy  the  needs  of  any  child.  "I 
look  upon  the  whole  business  of  spelling,  as  generally 
conducted,  to  be  an  enormous  waste  of  time,  labor, 
and  patience  —  an  unsatisfactory  method  of  gaining 
a  very  important  accomplishment.  .  .  .  The 
time  for  learning  to  spell  words  correctly  is  when 
they  are  first  used  and  represented  to  the  eye  in 
print. " I  "  In  English,  as  in  everything  else,  children 
must  be  taught  the  rudiments  first.  Not  that  I 
would  replace  the  spelling  book  in  its  former  com- 
manding position  in  the  schools,  and  compel  boys 
and  girls  to  learn  long  lists  of  words  which  they 
would  have  no  occasion  to  use;  but  everyone  should 
be  able  to  spell  the  words  that  are  often  on  his  lips, 

1  Zalmon  Richards,  Washington,  D.  C.:    "The  English  Language  in 
Elementary  Schools,"  N.  E.  A.,  '77,  p.  175. 


62  ELEMENTARY  WORD  STUDY 

or  often  under  his  eye  in  the  books  he  studies  or 
reads. " l 

(b)  Such  a  list  also  violates  the  principle  of  in- 
terest.    It  is,  at  least,  an"  open  question  whether 
words  should  be  taught  with  a  view  to  future  use  or 
immediate  use.    The  pupil  is  not  much  interested 
in  what  he  will  need  ten  or  twenty  years   hence. 
But  he  is  interested  in  words  that  grow  out  of  his 
daily  work,  that  enable  him  to  master  the  contents 
of  the  course  of  study.     "  It  is  very  doubtful  whether 
the  modern  spelling  book,  with  its  barren  list  of 
words  made  up  on  the  principle  of  similarity  of  sound, 
is  not  the  greatest  foe  of  good  spelling.    The  really 
necessary  thing  is  to  acquire  the  habit  of  taking  in 
with  the  eye  the  correct  spelling  of  each  new  word 
as  it  is  presented,  and  preserving  the  image  in  the 
mind. " 2 

(c)  Most  of  the  spelling  books  have  many  words 
that  it  is  not  worth  while  to  spell,  either  because 
they  present  no  difficulty  of  spelling,  or  because  they 
do  not  occur  in  any  of  the  lessons  of  the  pupils.    The 
writer  learned  to  spell  caoutchouc  many  years  ago  in 
the  public  school,  and  he  has  not  once  had  occasion 
to  use  the  word  since.     He  learned  hundreds  of  other 

'Adams  Sherman  Hill:  "Our  English, "  Harper's,  New  York,  1889, 
p.  1 6. 

*  Wm.  H.  Maxwell:  Educational  Review,  Vol.  3,  p.  477. 


METHODS  .OF  TEACHING  SPELLING    63 

words  of  like  nature.  If  a  child  is  properly  trained 
to  use  a  dictionary  he  will  look  up  such  strange  and 
unusual  words  when  he  meets  them  in  his  reading. 
Hence,  their  spelling,  for  the  mere  sake  of  drill  and 
a  possible  future  contingency,  seems  to  be  a  waste 
of  time.  The  ordinary  spelling  book  has,  at  least, 
two  useless  words  for  every  useful  one. 

(d)  Finally,  it  is  held  by  one  investigator  that 
script  spelling  books  are  about  twice  as  valuable  as 
printed  books  for  purposes  of  sense-perception. 
(Prop.  8.) 

(3)  PRINCIPLE  OF  SELECTION  In  the  light  of  the 
preceding  discussion  it  is  possible  to  formulate  several 
principles  which  should  guide  the  teacher  in  the 
selection  o£  spelling  words. 

(a)  Familiar  as  to  Meaning     The  first  principle 
is  that  the  spelling  words  should  be  familiar  as  to 
meaning.    To  require  children  to  spell  words  they 
cannot  use  is  manifestly  a  waste  of  time;  for  the 
only  occasion  we  have  for  spelling  at  all  is  when  we 
employ  words  in  written  discourse. 

(b)  Some  Difficulty  of  Spelling     In  the  second 
place,  words  in  the  spelling  list  should  present  some 
difficulty  of  spelling.    Their  meaning  may  be  already 
known,  and,  therefore,  no  time  need  be  devoted  to 
their  definition  and  use.    To  this  class  belong  such 
words  as  which,  Tuesday,  island,  physician,  giraffe, 


64  ELEMENTARY  WORD  STUDY 

camb,  until,  cigar,  tough,  knife.  The  meaning  and 
use  list,  on  the  other  hand,  contains  words  whose 
meaning  (which  may  be  new  to  the  children)  must 
be  known  in  order  to  master  the  subject  matter  of 
the  grade.  They  may  or  may  not  present  difficulties 
of  spelling.  If  they  do,  both  the  spelling  and  the 
meaning  must  be  taught.  The  class  readers  in 
literature,  geography,  and  science  will  supply  many 
spelling  words. 

Another  prolific  source  for  the  supply  of  spelling 
words,  as  well  as  for  grammatical  and  dictation 
exercises,  is  found  in  the  class  compositions.  Here 
the  children  reveal  their  peculiar  infirmities,  and 
thus  the  teacher  is  able  to  prescribe  the  specific 
remedies  demanded  by  their  case.  Every  time  a 
set  of  compositions  is  corrected  a  sheet  of  paper 
should  be  at  hand,  on  which  are  indicated  the  com- 
mon errors  of  spelling,  construction,  punctuation,  and 
the  like.  The  misspelled  words  should  be  added  to 
the  spelling  list,  while  other  errors  should  be  kept 
for  use  during  the  grammar  and  dictation  periods. 
Of  what  use  is  it  to  a  child  to  be  able  to  spell  the 
hundreds  of  test  words  found  in  a  printed  speller, 
if  he  cannot  write  a  letter  of  ten  lines  without  mis- 
spelling a  dozen  ordinary  words  which  he  has  occasion 
to  use?  Many  teachers  take  compositions  home 
and  laboriously  correct  the  numerous  errors  found 


METHODS  OF  TEACHING  SPELLING    65 

therein.  This  is  all  labor  in  vain  unless  an  effort 
is  made  in  the  spelling  period  and  in  other  language 
exercises  to  drill  the  pupils  on  the  forms  in  which  they 
have  failed. 

(c)  Phonetic  Words  at  First  One  authority 
who  has  investigated  the  psychology  of  spelling  has 
come  to  the  conclusion  that  the  words  selected  for  the 
child's  first  efforts  in  spelling  should  be  phonetic  in 
character,  the  more  unusual  forms  being  reserved 
for  later  years  (Prop.  14).  As  this  requirement 
follows  the  law  of  sequence  from  the  easy  to  the 
difficult,  its  observance  is  in  accordance  with  our" 
practice  in  other  subjects. 

2  Principles  of  Method 

The  various  principles  derived  from  the  psychology 
of  spelling  will  now  be  discussed  in  so  far  as  they 
apply  to  methods  of  teaching  spelling. 

(i)  ENGLISH  SPELLING  ARBITRARY  The  first 
important  consideration  with  respect  to  English 
spelling  is  that  reason  is  of  slight  assistance  in  the 
process.  The  present  forms  of  words  had  their  origin 
in  many  cases  in  the  vagaries  of  early  printers  and 
copyists  (Prop.  3).  The  consequence  is  that  no 
rules  can  be  formulated  that  are  not  limited  by 
numerous  and  confusing  exceptions.  On  account 


66  ELEMENTARY  WORD  STUDY 

of  these  exceptions  it  is  not  safe  to  spell  by  rule,  for 
it  is  almost  impossible  to  remember  for  any  length 
of  time  whether  a  given  word  one  happens  to  be 
writing  is  spelled  according  to  the  rule,  or  according 
to  the  exception.  One  writer  has  well  said  that 
spelling  rules  are  useful  chiefly  to  prove  how  useless 
they  are.  It  remains  an  open  question,  therefore, 
whether  it  is  economical  and  humane  to  burden 
the  memory  of  children  with  these  rules,  or  whether 
spelling  is  not  equally  successful  without  rules. 

(2)  NOT  A  GENERAL  HABIT  Spelling  is  pri- 
marily a  sensori-motor  habit  acquired,  like  any  other 
habit  of  this  kind,  by  repeated  motor  reaction  to 
certain  sensory  stimuli.  The  motor  images  of  sepa- 
rate letters  are  learned  in  the  first  writing  lessons. 
The  combination  of  the  writing-movement  images 
of  separate  letters  into  motor  images  of  syllables  and 
words  is  the  germ  of  all  instruction  in  spelling.  This 
is  a  very  complicated  process.  Numerous  sets  of 
muscles  must  act  in  harmony,  in  a  definite  sequence, 
with  definite  strength,  rapidity,  and  accuracy.  As 
Miss  Carmen  has  shown  (Prop.  20),  the  power  to 
spell  is  not  a  general  habit,  but  a  special  ability. 
We  cannot  improve  spelling  by  introducing  nature 
study  to  train  the  observation,  any  more  than  we  can 
learn  to  ride  a  bicycle  by  practice  in  skating,  or  learn 
percentage  by  drill  on  square  root.  In  order  to  learn 


METHODS  OF  TEACHING  SPELLING    67 

anything  we  must  exercise  the  particular  mental 
and  physical  functions  involved  in  that  thing,  rather 
than  some  other  functions.     In  other  words,  the  way 
to  learn  to  spell  is  to  spell. 
(3)    PREPARATION  OF  THE  LESSON. 

(a)  Pronunciation       Cultivation  of  correct  pro- 
nunciation is  of  great  importance  in  learning  to 
spell  (Prop.  9). 

(b)  Syllabication      It  has  been  suggested  that 
the  pronunciation  of  certain  syllables  in  oral  spelling 
is  an  aid  to  the  memory.    In  presenting  the  word  in 
written  or  printed  form  it  may  likewise  be  an  advan- 
tage to  exhibit  the  syllables.     This  should  be  done 
by  widening  the  space  between  syllables  rather  than 
by  the  use  of  the  hyphen.    The  hyphen  has  a  distinct 
use  in  hyphenated  compounds  and  in  cases  where 
a  part  of  a  word  is  carried  to  the  line  below.    To 
use  the  hyphen  in  syllabication  leads  to  confusion. 
*,     (c)    Derivation      A  knowledge  of  the  derivation 
of  words  is  advantageous  in  orthography  as  a  means 
of  fixing  the  attention  on  word  forms  (Prop.  6).     In 
fact,  the  writer  depends  far  more  on  his  knowledge 
of  derivation  than  on  his  knowledge  of  rules.    The 
key  to  the  double  r  in  Mediterranean  is  terra;  the 
double  n  in  centennial  comes  from  annus.    Separate 
is  never  troublesome  after  you  know  that  it  comes 
from  paratus. 


68  ELEMENTARY  WORD  STUDY 

(d)  Visual  vs.  Auditory  Images     Many  authori- 
ties agree  in  the  conclusion  that  the  average  child 
retains  more  from  visual  than  from  auditory  impres- 
sions (Prop.  16).    In  teaching  little  children  to  spell, 
therefore,  more  is  accomplished  by  exhibiting  the 
written  or  printed  form  of  the  word  than  by  the  oral 
presentation  of  the  spelling.    Lay  says  the  visual 
image  is  three  times  as  valuable  as  the  sound  image. 

(e)  The    Copying    Method      After    experiment 
with  many  forms  of  presentation,  Lay  comes  to  the 
conclusion  that  copying,  with  low  speaking,  is  the 
most  efficacious.    According  to  this  plan  the  child 
prepares  his  spelling  lesson  by  copying  the  words  and 
saying  over  the  letters  softly  to  himself  at  the  same 
time.    Next  in  order  of  merit  is  saying  the  letters 
over  to  one's  self  in  a  loud  voice  without  writing. 
The  third  in  order  of  merit  is  seeing  the  letters,  with 
speech  movement  (Prop.  7).    The  so-called  copy- 
ing method,  including  the  writing  down  of  sentences 
from  memory,  is  useful  because  it  is  most  closely 
related  to  the  orthographic  practice  of  common  life 
(Prop.  12). 

(/)  Motor  Images  oj  Speech  The  strong  ten- 
dency of  children  to  use  the  lips  in  spelling  to  them- 
selves is  significant  in  suggesting  that  the  motor 
speech  apparatus  should  be  turned  to  use  in  learning 
to  spell  (Prop.  17).  In  all  the  experiments  recorded 


METHODS  OF  TEACHING  SPELLING    69 

by  Lay,  Shaw,  Kratz,  and  others,  the  results  of  other 
methods  were  uniformly  better  when  accompanied 
by  speech  than  without  the  use  of  speech. 

(g)  Automatic  Through  Writing  Since  spelling 
is  essentially  a  motor  habit,  it  is  made  automatic 
through  practice  in  writing  (Prop.  15).  The  only 
use  we  make  of  spelling  is  when  we  are  writing. 

(h)  Combination  of  Senses  It  is  evident  from 
the  preceding  discussion  that  a  combination  of  senses 
in  learning  to  spell  is  more  effective  than  the  use  of 
any  single  sense.  The  sight  is  more  valuable  than 
hearing;  the  motor  image  of  speaking  and  the  motor 
image  of  writing  are  very  important.  Why  not  com- 
bine all  these  elements,  if  possible,  in  a  single  process  ? 
Spelling  is  a  matter,  psychologically,  of  association, 
and  the  more  clues  there  are  for  memory,  the  better 
are  the  chances  of  recall  (Prop.  18). 

(i)  Connected  Discourse  We  may  regard  the 
complex  act  of  writing  connected  discourse  as  an 
entire  situation  which  should  be  departed  from  as 
little  as  possible.  Hence  the  spelling  lesson  should 
most  frequently  take  the  form  of  connected  written 
discourse  (Prop.  29).  "Spelling  can  be  best  taught 
from  the  sentence,  which  gives  to  words  meaning  and 
life.  Greater  stress  should  be  laid  upon  the  written 
expression  of  thoughts,  either  from  dictation,  or 
from  memory,  or  as  original  spelling;  and  the  pupil's 


70  ELEMENTARY  WORD  STUDY 

vocabulary  should  be  extended  in  such  direction  as  to 
enable  him  to  use,  spell  and  write  words  seen  or 
required  in  his  daily  exercise."  I 

This  procedure  has  the  added  advantage  of  en- 
abling us  to  teach  the  meaning  and  use  of  words 
(along  with  spelling),  by  the  natural  or  inductive 
method.  By  copying,  studying,  and  writing  from 
dictation  selections  from  the  best  authors,  the  pupil 
learns  meanings  from  the  context  and  at  the  same 
time  increases  the  power  to  put  his  own  thoughts 
into  clear  and  pertinent  language.  A  number  of 
spelling  books  embodying  this  principle  have  been 
published.  The  following  exercise  is  quoted  from 
one  of  these : 2 

"The  first  set  of  teeth,  twenty  in  number,  is  de- 
veloped between  the  ages  of  six  months  and  three 
years.  The  second,  or  permanent  set,  commences 
to  replace  the  first  at  the  age  of  six  or  seven.  The 
names  of  the  teeth  are  incisors,  canines,  bicuspids, 
molars,  or  grinders.  The  wisdom  teeth  do  not 
usually  appear  until  the  twenty-first  year  of  life. " 

Another  dictation-speller  3  presents  the  lesson 
in  the  form  of  a  quotation  from  a  standard  author. 

1  Edgar  A.  Singer,  Philadelphia:  "What  Constitutes  a  Practical 
Course  of  Study?"  N.  E.  A.,  '80,  p.  120. 

1  Campbell's  Reading  Speller.    Taintor  Bros.  &  Co.,  New  York,  1883. 

'"Dictation  Day  by  Day."  Kate  Van  Wagenen.  Macmillan, 
New  York,  1909. 


METHODS  OF  TEACHING  SPELLING    71 

(j)  No  "Best  Method"  There  is  no  "best 
method"  of  teaching  spelling  (Prop.  26).  The  wise 
teacher  will  acquaint  herself  with  as  many  methods 
and  devices  as  possible,  and  change  from  one  to  the 
other,  so  as  to  adapt  herself  to  the  various  types  of 
children;  to  wit,  the  visual,  the  auditory,  the  motor, 
and  the  mixed  (Prop.  27). 

(k)  Homonyms  Professor  Burnham x  has  shown 
that  in  teaching  spelling  it  is  important  to  avoid 
interference  of  association.  The  process  of  writing 
words  involves  a  very  complicated  set  of  mental  and 
physical  activities,  such  as  concepts,  images  of  form, 
images  of  movement,  conflicts,  motives,  decisions, 
etc.,  and,  therefore,  interference  is  liable  to  occur. 
Examples  are  the  noun  advice,  and  the  verb  advise; 
principle,  a  rule  of  conduct,  and  principal,  a  person. 
In  the  teaching  of  homonyms,  it  is  usual  to  present 
them  simultaneously.  The  result  is  likely  to  be 
interference  of  association.  The  similarities,  which 
are  supposed  to  assist  the  memory,  are  in  reality  a 
source  of  confusion.  It  is  recommended,  therefore, 
that  each  one  of  a  pair  of  homonyms  be  presented 
apart  from  the  other,  so  that  the  peculiar  spelling 
may  be  thoroughly  associated  with  the  meaning. 
(4)  THE  TEST  After  the  lesson  has  been  pre- 

1  Pedagogical  Seminary,  Vol.  13^.439:  "The  Hygiene  and  Psychol- 
ogy of  Spelling." 


72  ELEMENTARY  WORD  STUDY 

pared,  either  in  class,  with  or  without  the  teacher's 
assistance,  or  at  home,  it  is  usual  to  test  the  pupil  to 
find  out  whether  he  can  spell  the  words  he  studied. 
The  usual  form  of  the  test  is  the  dictation;  and  this 
may  consist  of  column  spelling  or  sentence  writing. 
Mr.  Cornman  has  found  that  the  smallest  average 
variation  in  spelling  tests  appears  in  written  language. 
Lists  of  test  words  give  more  variable  results,  the 
widest  variation  being  brought  out  by  the  examina- 
tion papers  officially  prescribed  as  a  test  for  the 
promotion  of  pupils.  This  is  easily  accounted  for 
by  the  fact  that  such  test  words  are  arbitrarily  selected 
by  the  examiner,  sitting  at  a  distance,  without  refer- 
ence to  the  particular  words  that  may  have  been 
taught  in  the  different  schools.  It  is  an  assumption 
that  a  pupil  of  a  given  age  ought  to  know  the  words 
specified.  If  the  words  happen  to  belong  to  the 
pupil's  vocabulary,  he  may  be  able  to  spell  them;  if 
they  are  entirely  new,  he  guesses  at  their  spelling; 
and  as  English  spelling  is  without  law  and  seldom 
phonetic,  he  generally  guesses  wrong.  In  view  of 
the  fact  that  arbitrarily  selected  exercises  in  dictation 
and  spelling  introduce  the  very  variable  factor  of  the 
judgment  of  the  examiner,  Mr.  Cornman  has  come 
to  the  conclusion  that  a  method  of  basing  the  estima- 
tion of  proficiency  in  spelling  upon  the  pupil's  written 
language  would  be  a  more  equitable  way  of  meeting 


METHODS  OF  TEACHING  SPELLING    73 

the  demand  for  examination  data.  The  objection 
to  dictation,  however,  would  not  hold  in  the  case  of  a 
teacher  or  principal  dictating  words  previously 
assigned  for  spelling.  But  the  spelling  in  the  pupil's 
original  composition  is  not  altogether  a  safe  guide 
for  the  estimation  of  his  spelling  ability,  for  the  reason 
that  he  avoids  spelling  difficulties  by  substituting 
words  which  he  can  spell.1 

(a)  Teaching  and  Testing  A  confusion  exists 
among  teachers  as  to  the  functions  of  teaching  and 
testing.  Much  of  so-called  teaching  is  nothing  but 
testing.  Both  of  these  processes  are  indispensable, 
but  we  cannot  substitute  one  for  the  other.  You 
teach  a  pupil  when  you  give  him  a  method  of  ac- 
quiring knowledge  or  power  or  skill ;  when  you  help 
him  to  memorize,  or  to  think,  or  to  plan,  or  to  con- 
struct. You  test  him  when  you  try  to  find  out  how 
well  he  has  succeeded  in  his  learning,  how  much  he 
remembers,  how  accurately  he  thinks,  or  how  intelli- 
gently he  plans  and  constructs.  When  a  teacher 
writes  ten  problems  on  the  board,  and  then  sits  back 
in  his  chair  while  the  class  solve  the  problems,  he  is 

1  The  following  anecdote  is  an  illustration  of  the  point: 

A  GOOD  SUBSTITUTE  —  Jimmy  had  his  weak  points  as  an  example  of 
the  result  of  modern  educational  methods,  but  his  brain  was  of  excellent 
quality. 

When  the  teacher  looked  at  him  and  inquired,  coldly,  "What  is  a 
synonym,  James  ?"  he  was  ready  with  his  answer. 

"It's  a  word  that  you  can  use  when  you  don't  know  how  to  spell  the  one 
you  thought  of  first, "  he  replied,  cheerfully. 


74  ELEMENTARY  WORD  STUDY 

not  teaching,  but  testing  the  knowledge  and  skill  of 
the  children. 

So,  when  one  dictates  a  column  of  words  to  be 
spelled,  he  is  merely,  testing,  not  teaching.  What  is 
called  "hearing  lessons"  is  usually  testing  what  has 
been  learned  out  of  a  book.  Composition  writing, 
under  the  guidance  of  a  skillful  teacher,  is  teaching. 
If  the  subject  has  been  simply  assigned  and  the  chil- 
dren do  all  the  work  without  suggestion  or  plan  from 
the  teacher,  there  is  manifestly  no  teaching  in  the 
exercise.  Dictation  is  a  method  of  testing  how  well 
certain  formal  elements  of  written  language  have  been 
mastered  by  the  pupils.  To  develop  or  explain  the 
meaning  of  a  word  is  teaching;  using  the  word  in  an 
original  sentence  is  a  test  to  see  whether  the  meaning 
is  properly  understood  by  the  pupil.  The  younger 
the  child  the  more  teaching  and  the  less  testing  is 
required.  In  the  first  years  of  school  life  the  pupil 
does  so  little  for  himself,  especially  in  graded  schools, 
that  all  the  necessary  testing  may  be  done  simul- 
taneously with  the  teaching.  As  the  pupil  grows 
older  he  should  also  grow  in  self-dependence.  The 
teaching  partakes  more  and  more  of  suggestion,  and 
planning,  and  guiding,  while  the  pupil  is  compelled 
to  work  out  his  own  results.  Hence,  the  test  is  neces- 
sary that  we  may  know  how  faithful  and  successful 
he  has  been  in  accomplishing  the  task  set  for  him. 


METHODS  OF  TEACHING  SPELLING    75 

In  the  secondary  school  this  self-reliance  becomes 
still  more  prominent,  the  pupil  being  compelled  to  do 
a  larger  share  of  the  work  at  home,  and  thus  each 
recitation  is  largely  a  test. 

In  collegiate  and  university  instruction,  the  sug- 
gestive and  guiding  phase  of  teaching  becomes  still 
more  prominent.  The  professor  lectures;  then  the 
pupil  is  sent  to  the  library  and  the  laboratory,  where 
he  must  work  out  his  own  salvation.  The  results 
are  shown  in  the  form  of  notebooks,  themes,  theses, 
and  the  like,  all  of  which  are  methods  of  testing  the 
acquisition  of  knowledge  and  power. 

The  test  is  not  to  be  despised  at  any  stage.  It  is 
to  teaching  what  reaping  is  to  sowing.  He  who 
teaches  and  never  tests  cannot  possibly  know  whether 
his  sowing  ever  brings  forth  fruit.  He  who  tests  and 
never  teaches  is  reaping  where  he  has  not  sown, 
and  is  sure  to  come  to  grief. 

(5)  SPELLING  A  SIGN  OF  GENERAL  PEDAGOGICAL 
HEALTH  In  order  to  ascertain  what  relation 
exists  between  the  specific  spelling  drill  and  accuracy 
of  spelling,  Mr.  Cornman  decided  to  abandon  the 
use  of  the  spelling  book  and  home  spelling  lessons 
in  the  Northwest  School  in  Philadelphia,  of  which 
he  was  principal,  and  also  to  omit  from  the  school 
program  the  period  which  had  been  devoted  to  spell- 
ing. All  teaching  in  spelling  was  done  incidentally. 


76  ELEMENTARY  WORD  STUDY 

This  does  not  mean  that  spelling  was  totally  ne- 
glected. "Words  liable  to  be  misspelled  were  placed 
conspicuously  before  the  pupils  when  they  were  en- 
gaged upon  an  exercise  in  which  the  words  were  likely 
to  occur;  pupils  were  taught  to  appeal,  when  in  doubt, 
to  the  teacher  and  to  the  dictionary,  and  mistakes 
in  written  work  were  corrected  as  far  as  possible. " 
By  numerous  elaborate  and  varied  tests  the  North- 
west School  was  compared  during  a  period  of  three 
years  with  the  schools  where  the  regular  spelling 
drill  prevailed.  Mr.  Commands,  inferences  from 
this  study  are,  brielly,  as  follow^  1 

(a)  The  spelling  result  is  a  function  of  the  general 
pedagogical   health   of   the   class.     Given   a   class 
making  fair  progress  in  its  general  work,  and  its 
spelling  result,  as  measured  by  a  composition  test, 
may  be  predicted  with  scientific  accuracy,  no  matter 
what  the  daily  procedure  in  spelling  may  have  been. 

(b)  The    Northwest    School,   during   the   three 
years  in  wjiich  the  specific  spelling  drill  was  sus- 
pended, neither  gained  nor  lost  appreciably  in  spelling 
proficiency. 

(c)  The  percentage  of  correctness  of  spelling  for 
pupils  of  any  school  grade  is  a  fairly  constant  quantity 
for  the  grade,  whether  the  basis  of  comparison  be 
written  connected  discourse  or  spontaneously  written 
words. 


METHODS  OF  TEACHING  SPELLING    77 

(d)  The  degree  of  general  mental  development, 
as  measured  by  the  school  grade  of  the  pupil,  is  the 
most  important  factor  in  accuracy  of  spelling. 

(6)  INDIVIDUAL  DIFFERENCES  The  principle 
stated  in  the  preceding  paragraph  is  modified  by  the 
fact  that  children  differ  in  their  natural  ability  to 
spell  as  they  differ  in  other  talents.  Some  are  fond 
of  mathematics  and  find  no  difficulty  in  mastering 
it;  others  acquire  a  knowledge  of  mathematics  only 
after  the  most  discouraging  and  most  laborious 
efforts.  Professor  Thorndyke1  presents  the  fol- 
lowing as  an  example  of  differences  in  spelling 
ability  between  two  pupils  in  same  grade  and 
class ; 

A  B 

greatful  gratful 

elegant  eleagent 

present  present 

patience  paisionce 

succeed  suckseed 

severe  survere 

accident  axadent 

sometimes  sometimes 

sensible  sensible 

business  biusness 

answer  anser 

sweeping  swepinge 

properly  prooling 

1  "The  Principles  of  Teaching,"  E.  L.  Thorndyke.    A.  G.  Sciler, 
New  York,  1906. 


78  ELEMENTARY  WORD  STUDY 

improvement  improvement 

fatiguing  fetging 

anxious  anxchus 

appreciate  appresheating 

assure  ashure 

imagine  amagen 

praise  prasy 

In  general,  this  principle  of  individual  difference 
may  be  illustrated  by  saying  that  if  the  weakest 
pupil  in  the  class  can  do  five  problems  in  ten  minutes 
the  best  pupil  will  do  at  least  twenty.  While  the 
poorest  speller  picks  out  fourteen  mispelled  words 
in  a  given  passage,  the  best  pupil  picks  out  ninety- 
four.  In  a  word,  the  best  pupil  in  a  class  will  have 
in  any  one  trait  an  ability  from  two  to  five  times  as 
great  as  the  poorest  pupil. 

(7)  SPELLING  DRILL  The  investigations  of 
Rice  and  Cornman  point  to  the  comparative  unim- 
portance of  the  spelling  drill  as  contributory  to 
accuracy  in  spelling.  Lay  goes  so  far  as  to  say  that 
the  traditional  spelling  lesson  should  be  omitted 
and  even  forbidden  by  law,  on  account  of  the  time 
wasted  by  it  (Prop.  30).  Cornman  does  not  go  so 
far  as  Lay  in  his  attack  upon  the  spelling  drill,  as  we 
see  by  the  following  paragraph: 

"To  remain  strictly  within  the  evidence  gathered 
by  this  investigation,  it  must  be  admitted  that  there 
may  be  teachers  of  surpassing  ability  who  can  obtain 


METHODS  OF  TEACHING  SPELLING    79 

more  than  the  average  results  by  the  method  of  the 
specific  spelling  drill,  and  other  teachers  of  meaner 
ability  who  need  the  drill  to  bring  their  pupils  up 
to  the  level  of  this  average  result. " 

Rice's  conclusion  with  reference  to  the  uselessness 
of  the  spelling  lesson  is  modified  by  the  fact  that  he 
has,  since  his  investigation,  written  a  series  of  spelling 
books  for  the  elementary  school. 

(a)  Incidental  Spelling  The  Committee  of  Ten 
says  bluntly  that  "spelling  should  be  learned  inci- 
dentally, in  connection  with  every  subject  studied, 
and  not  from  a  spelling  book."  The  Committee 
of  Fifteen  recommends  "that  selected  lists  of  words 
difficult  to  spell  be  made  from  the  reading  lessons 
and  mastered  by  frequent  writing  and  oral  spelling 
during  the  fourth,  fifth,  and  sixth  years. " 

The  question  here  arises,  What  is  meant  by  "in- 
cidental spelling?"  According  to  the  dictionary, 
incidentally  means  "without  intention,  casually, 
collaterally,  beside  the  main  design."  The  writer's 
experience  of  many  years  in  the  office  of  principal 
and  of  superintendent  has  convinced  him  that  inci- 
dental teaching  in  the  sense  of  "without  intention, 
casually,"  is  equivalent  to  no  teaching.  A  class  of 
necessity  has  a  definite  program,  wherein  a  certain 
number  of  minutes  are  devoted  to  this,  that,  and  the 
other  exercise.  Incidentals  have  no  definite  time 


8o  ELEMENTARY  WORD  STUDY 

allowance,  consequently  the  attention  they  receive  is 
at  best  spasmodic,  desultory,  haphazard.  Under 
such  circumstances  it  is  idle  to  expect  satisfactory  re- 
sultsv  In  a  school  of  fifty  classes,  perhaps  twenty  per 
cent  of  the  children  would  leam  to  spell  under  such 
a  system;  the  rest  would  not.  And  on  examination 
it  would  doubtless  be  found  that  the  small  number 
of  teachers  who  are  successful  do  their  work  sys- 
tematically rather  than  incidentally. 

Incidentally  has  for  one  of  its  meanings  "collater- 
ally. "  This  is  probably  the  sense  in  which  the  word 
is  usually  employed  in  connection  with  spelling. 
From  this  point  of  view  incidental  spelling  would 
mean  spelling  in  correlation  with  other  subjects  of 
the  course  of  study,  such  as  composition,  reading, 
geography,  history,  and  science.  The  principle  of 
correlation  is  an  important  one,  and  is  applicable 
to  all  school  work.  But  it  has  its  limitations.  Com- 
plete correlation  is  liable  to  result  in  superficial  and 
vague  impressions ;  and  this  defect  can  only  be  cured 
by  a  certain  amount  of  isolation.  My  opinion  is 
that  spelling  should  appear  as  spelling  on  the  teacher's 
program  and  in  the  child's  consciousness. 

A  further  objection  to  incidental  spelling  is  the 
fact  that  by  this  plan  the  child  learns  to  spell  only 
the  words  employed  in  the  course  of  study.  It 
makes  no  provision  for  the  development  of  a  general 


METHODS  OF  TEACHING  SPELLING    81 

vocabulary  adapted  to  the  needs  of  life  after  school 
days  are  over. 

There  is  still  further  objection  to  the  proposal  to 
teach  spelling  only  in  connection  with  other  subjects. 
Children  do  not  successfully  attend  to  more  than 
one  thing  at  a  time.  If  they  undertake  to  keep 
several  subjects  under  observation  at  once,  there  is 
alternation  of  attention,  accompanied  by  more  or 
less  confusion  of  impression,  and  consequent  weak- 
ness of  memory  and  lack  of  vital  reaction.  It  is 
asserted  that  children  spell  just  as  well  in  schools 
where  no  separate  spelling  drills  are  conducted  as  in 
schools  where  such  drills  are  had.  Spelling  lessons 
are  therefore  declared  to  be  a  waste  of  time  and  a 
mortal  pedagogical  sin.  On  this  point  I  quote  a  very 
competent  psychologist:1 

"The  wide  application  of  the  doctrine  of  'in- 
cidental learning'  is  a  case  in  point.  [He  is  speaking 
of  the  difference  between  habit  formation  and  judg- 
ment.] This  doctrine  assumed  that  'content'  and 
'form'  could  be  acquired  simultaneously;  or,  to  put 
it  in  another  way,  that  form  could  be  acquired  in- 
cidentally while  attention  is  fixed  upon  'thought' 
or  'content.'  This  assumption  is  a  direct  violation 
of  the  law  of  habit;  the  child  can  never  become 
proficient  in  form  without  many  distinct  acts  of 

1  Bagley:  "The  Educative  Process,"  p.  123.     Macmillan,  1905. 


82  ELEMENTARY  WORD  STUDY 

attention  dealing  with  form  alone.  It  may  be  that 
the  child  will  learn  to  spell  without  spelling  lessons  as 
such;  that  he  will  'absorb'  the  form  of  written  and 
printed  words  while  he  is  reading  interesting  stories 
or  writing  essays  and  compositions.  But  if  this  is 
ever  true,  it  is  because  attention  has  been  divided, 
now  being  concentrated  upon  the  form,  now  upon  the 
content,  and  flitting  from  one  to  the  other  as  the 
exigencies  of  the  task  have  demanded. " 

(6)  Every  Lesson  a  Spelling  Lesson  It  is  un- 
doubtedly true  that  the  specific  spelling  lesson  in 
school  is  but  a  trifling  proportion  of  the  total  stimu- 
lation offered  by  the  environmental  influences  of 
school,  home,  and  outdoor  life.  Every  lesson  is 
contributory  in  some  degree  to  spelling,  even  if  no 
mention  be  made  of  the  subject.  Every  written  or 
printed  word  which  is  seen  in  street  advertisements 
or  home  reading  registers  its  effect  upon  the  mind 
of  the  pupil  (Prop.  28).  Moreover,  even  where 
a  daily  spelling  lesson  as  such  is  conducted,  some 
attention  should  be  paid  to  orthography  in  all 
branches.  It  is  not  amiss  to  ask  pupils  to  spell  the 
new  words  with  which  they  meet  in  arithmetic,  geo- 
graphy, grammar,  history,  science,  and  reading. 
In  some  schools  where  the  departmental  system  of 
teaching  is  employed,  it  has  been  the  practice  to 
hold  each  teacher  responsible  for  the  spelling  of  the 


METHODS  OF  TEACHING  SPELLING     83 

terms  that  occur  in  the  subject  taught  by  him.  Thus 
every  teacher  becomes  a  spelling  teacher,  and  the 
pupil  is  not  allowed  to  grow  careless  in  his  spelling 
in  any  part  of  his  school  work. 

(c)  The  Dictionary  Habit  One  essential  ele- 
ment in  the  spelling  equipment  to  which  the  pupil 
is  entitled  when  he  graduates  from  an  elementary 
school  is  the  dictionary  ftabit,  i.e.,  the  habit  of  going 
to  the  dictionary  when  he  is  in  doubt  as  to  any  feature 
of  word  study,  be  it  spelling,  punctuation,  syllabica- 
tion, derivation,  or  what  not.  In  order  to  develop 
such  a  habit,  systematic  drills  are  necessary.  From 
the  beginning  of  the  sixth  year,  every  pupil  should 
possess  a  dictionary;  which  should  be  on  his  desk 
each  school  day.  In  order  that  the  dictionary  may 
be  of  use. as  a  standard  of  pronunciation,  the  pupil 
must  be  thoroughly  familiar  with  the  meaning  of 
diacritical  marks.  I  have  frequently  had  children 
copy  the  pronunciation  upon  the  board,  with  the 
marks  employed  in  the  dictionary,  and  even  then 
they  were  unable  to  pronounce  the  word. 

The  important  point  to  be  emphasized  in  this 
connection  is  the  demand  that  a  habit  of  relying  upon 
the  dictionary  to  resolve  doubts  shall  be  formed. 
Many  devices  that  serve  to  stimulate  interest  in 
dictionary  work  may  be  employed.  Exercises  of 
this  sort  must  never  be  allowed  to  become  mechanical 


84  ELEMENTARY   WORD  STUDY 

grinds.  It  would  be,  for  instance,  a  crime  for  a 
teacher  to  assign  so  many  words  as  a  home-lesson, 
the  children  being  required  to  copy  the  definitions 
out  of  a  dictionary  into  a  note-book.  Occasionally 
word-hunting  may  take  the  form  of  a  game.  A 
word  is  given,  and  the  object  is  to  see  who  can  find 
it  in  the  dictionary  first.  Or  a  word  may  be  mispro- 
nounced, as  arctic,  for  instance,  and  the  teacher 
says,  "Get  your  dictionaries;  when  you  are  prepared 
to  give  me  the  correct  pronunciation,  stand. "  Then, 
again,  the  game  may  be  to  find  out  how  many  words 
can  be  looked  up  in  a  given  time,  or  how  long  it  will 
take  to  look  up  a  given  number  of  words. 

By  the  time  the  pupil  gets  into  the  highest  ele- 
mentary grades  and  into  the  high  school  he  should 
have  the  habit  of  requiring  every  strange  word  to 
give  an  account  of  itself  before  he  passes  it. 

(8)  SPELLING  AND  SUPERVISION  Results  in 
spelling  are  determined  not  so  much  by  the  methods 
employed  as  by  the  ability  of  those  who  use  them; 
that  is,  results  in  spelling  as  well  as  in  other  subjects, 
depend  largely  upon  effectiveness  of  administration 
(Prop.  19.)  Every  supervisor  of  school  work  knows 
that  the  quality  of  the  product  in  any  study  depends 
more  upon  the  skill  of  the  teacher  than  the  time  given 
to  the  subject.  One  finds  schools  where  the  usual 
amount  of  time  is  allotted  to  reading,  yet  the  children 


METHODS  OF  TEACHING  SPELLING    85 

cannot  read.  Unless  the  subject  be  intelligently 
supervised  the  results  will  be  poor,  in  spite  of  the 
daily  reading  lesson.  The  same  is  true  of  spelling. 
A  thoroughly  competent  teacher  will  accomplish 
more  in  ten  minutes  than  a  novice  can  do  in  an  hour. 

Then  again,  good  spelling  is  largely  a  matter  of 
standard.  Probably  the  majority  of  teachers  have 
daily  lessons  in  spelling  without  ever  thinking  to 
inquire  what  degree  of  success  they  achieve.  They 
assign  a  stated  number  of  new  words  each  day  to  be 
studied  at  home  by  the  children.  The  next  day 
they  dictate  these  words  and  correct  the  papers,  taking 
note  of  the  errors  of  individual  pupils,  but  not  stop- 
ping to  calculate  the  percentage  of  correct  results 
for  the  entire  class.  They  imagine  they  are  doing 
good  work  when,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  the  results  are 
ridiculously  poor.  I  have  known  many  teachers 
who,  when  told  that  thirty  or  forty  per  cent  of  the 
words  dictated  to  the  class,  were  misspelled,  thought 
the  results  were  quite  satisfactory.  The  first  requisite 
of  good  spelling  in  a  school  is  the  establishment  of  a 
high  standard  by  the  principal,  and  a  persistent 
endeavor  on  the  part  of  every  teacher  to  live  up  to  the 
standard.  The  average  result  of  the  daily  spelling 
drill  in  any  class  should  be  regarded  as  unsatisfactory 
if  it  is  less  than  from  ninety  to  ninety-five  per  cent. 

The  following  testimony  of  Superintendent  C.  N. 


86  ELEMENTARY  WORD  STUDY 

Kendall1  as  to  the  manner  in  which  he  improved 
the  spelling  in  New  Haven,  illustrates  the  relation  of 
supervision  to  spelling-efficiency. 

(a)  "  Increased  interest  and  attention  on  the  part 
of  the  teachers  to  the  subject;  there  has  been  more 
variety  in  the  instruction  than  formerly. 

(6)  The  teaching  of  common  words  only,  and 
not  of  the  uncommon  ones  which  the  child  would 
never  have  occasion  to  write  outside  of  school. 

(c)  The  use  of  a  spelling  blank-book,  in  which 
a  daily  record  of  the  pupil's  work  for  the  year  is  kept, 
thus  affording  opportunity  for  intelligent  review  of 
the  words  the  pupil  needs  to  review. " 

When  Mr.  Cornman  abolished  the  regular  spelling 
drill  in  the  school  for  three  years,  the  subject  was  by 
no  means  neglected.  If  the  truth  were  known,  it 
might  even  transpire  that  he  and  his  teachers  did 
more  to  stimulate  interest  in  spelling  while  they 
taught  it  informally  than  they  had  done  before.  Dur- 
ing these  three  years  of  experiment  the  subject  must 
ever  have  been  present  in  Mr.  Cornman's  thoughts. 
He  may  have  been  anxious  to  prove  Dr.  Rice's  con- 
tention, which  had  recently  been  published  in  the 
Forum,  that  results  in  spelling  have  nothing  to  do 
with  the  amount  and  kind  of  drilling  that  is  devoted 
to  the  subject.  While,  therefore,  the  Northwest 

1  Educational  Review,  Vol.  XIV,  p.  409. 


METHODS  OF  TEACHING  SPELLING     87 

School  had  no  spelling-period  on  the  program,  spell- 
ing was  probably  more  systematically  and  intelligently 
taught  and  supervised  than  it  ever  had  been 
before. 

3  The  Time  Allowance 

Rice  and  Cornman  conclude  that  the  amount  of 
time  devoted  to  the  specific  spelling  drill  bears  no 
discoverable  relation  to  the  result.  In  the  nineteen 
cities  whose  spelling  was  tested  by  Rice,  the  time 
varied  from  six  to  fifty  minutes  a  day.  The  results 
were  no  better  where  fifty  minutes  were  employed, 
than  where  only  six  were  used.  He  thinks  any 
school  that  devotes  more  than  fifteen  minutes  a  day 
to  spelling  is  wasting  time.  If  this  be  so,  what  shall 
we  say  of  the  conditions  described  in  the  following 
paragraph,  written  in  1877?  . 

"It  has  been  calculated  that  on  an  average  an 
hour  a  day,  for  ten  years,  between  six  and  sixteen,  is 
spent  upon  this  accomplishment.  Of  what  use  can 
spelling  be  to  one  who  cannot  use  the  words  which 
he  has  learned  to  spell  ?  If  the  first  elements  of  spell- 
ing have  been  properly  taught,  a  student's  spelling 
will  keep  pace  with  his  reading;  he  can  probably 
spell  all  the  words  he  can  use  intelligently,  and  what 
need  has  he  of  more?"1 

1  President  M.  A.  Newell,  N.  E.  A.,  Louisville,  Ky.,  1877,  p.  10. 


8$  ELEMENTARY  WORD  STUDY 

The  Committee  of  Fifteen  recommends  four 
periods  a  week  for  spelling  during  the  fourth,  fifth, 
and  sixth  years,  aggregating  eighty  minutes  in  the 
fourth  year,  and  one  hundred  minutes  in  the  fifth  and 
sixth  years.  In  a  recent  investigation  of  spelling 
in  my  own  district,  I  discovered  that  the  average 
time  in  minutes  devoted  to  word  study  by  my  twenty- 
five  schools  is  as  follows : 

Subject  Year  Average 

1-2345678 

Spelling  100    90    70    60    50    40    40        =      60 

Meaning  and  Use  25    25     25    25    30        =      25 

Derivation  20    20     20    20        =      20 


Total  100    90    95    105  95    85    90        =    105 

These  averages  fall  within  the  limits  set  by  Rice 
and  the  Committee  of  Fifteen  so  far  as  the  length  of 
the  daily  period  is  concerned.  But  the  total  school 
time  devoted  to  spelling  is  far  greater  in  the  New 
York  schools  than  in  the  Fifteen's  program.  We  be- 
gin to  spell  in  the  second  year  and  continue  for  seven 
years.  The  Committee  of  Fifteen  begins  in  the 
fourth  year  and  ends  in  the  sixth.  My  own  opinion 
is  that  spelling  should  not  only  continue  through 
the  seventh  and  eighth  years,  where  the  pupil  meets 
with  so  many  new  words  which  he  must  learn  to  use, 
but  that  even  in  the  high  school  the  need  for  some 
sort  of  spelling  exercises  still  exists. 


VI 

The  Meaning  and  Use  of  Words 

Words  are  the  soul's  ambassadors,  who  go 
Abroad  upon  her  errands  to  and  fro; 
They  are  the  sole  expounders  of  the  mind, 
And  correspondence  keep  'twixt  all  mankind. 

— Jam£S*H(rwell 

I  The  Function  of  Words 

Someone  has  defined  reading  as  the  conversion 
of  sights  into  sounds.  This  statement  is  very  wide 
of  the  whole  truth.  So  long  as  a  word  calls  up  a 
sound  as  its  only  response  it  is  an  end  in  itself,  and 
does  not  serve  its  highest  purpose  as  a  link  in  the 
chain  of  indirect  reactions.  "Words  are  of  value 
only  when  they  arouse  something  more  than  articula- 
tions; they  must  arouse  ulitmately  reactions  appro- 
priate to  their  remoter  meanings."1  The  immediate 
function  of  words  is  to  carry  some  idea  or  emotion. 
In  this  sense  they  are  ambassadors  of  the  mind,  *hat 
go  "abroad  upon  her  errands  to  and  fro."  They 
bring  to  us  of  the  present,  not  merely  the  thoughts 

'Judd:  "Genetic  Psychology  for  Teachers,"  p.   262.    Appleton, 
New  York,  1903. 

89 


90  ELEMENTARY  WORD  STUDY 

of  our  contemporaries,  but  messages  of  days  long 
past,  so  that  what  Moses  has  done  and  Socrates  has 
thought  we  may  know  through  these  expounders  of 
the  mind.  The  culture  function  of  education  is  to 
bring  the  child  into  full  possession  of  language  in 
order  that  he  may  get  wisdom  from  the  experiences 
of  others.)  The  word  is  the  key  to  this  wisdom^ 
"Perhaps,"  says  Lowell1,  "it  will  be  found  that 
the  telephone,  of  which  we  are  so  proud,  cannot 
carry  human  speech  so  far  as  Homer  and  Plato 
have  contrived  to  carry  it  with  their  simpler  appli- 
ances. " 

The  ultimate  function  of  the  word  is  to  beget  some 
appropriate  reaction.  The  final  destination  of  every 
thought  and  emotion  carried  by  words  is  expression 
through  one  or  another  of  the  several  modes  at  our 
command.  "No  truth,  however  abstract,  is  ever 
perceived,  that  will  not  probably  at  some  time  in- 
fluence our  earthly  action.  You  must  remember 
that,  when  I  talk  of  action  here,  I  mean  action  in  the 
widest  sense.  I  mean  speech,  I  mean  writing,  I 
mean  yeses  and  noes,  and  tendencies  'from'  things, 
and  tendencies  'toward'  things,  and  emotional  deter- 
minations; and  I  mean  them  in  the  future  as  well  as 
in  the  immediate  present.  As  I  talk  here,  and  you 
listen,  it  might  seem  as  if  no  action  followed.  You 

1  Essay  on  Gray. 


MEANING  AND  USE  OF  WORDS        91 

might  call  it  a  purely  theoretic  process,  with  no 
practical  result.  But  it  must  have  a  practical  result. 
It  cannot  take  place  at  all  and  leave  your  conduct 
unaffected.  If  not  to-day,  then  on  some  far  future 
day,  you  will  answer  some  question  differently  by 
reason  of  what  you  are  thinking  now.  Some  of  you 
will  be  led  by  my  words  into  new  veins  of  inquiry,  into 
reading  special  books.  These  will  develop  your 
opinion,  whether  for  or  against.  That  opinion  will 
in  turn  be  expressed,  will  receive  criticism  from 
others  in  your  environment,  and  will  affect  your 
standing  in  their  eyes.  We  cannot  escape  our 
destiny."1 

Sometimes  the  intermediate  phase  of  thought, 
emotion,  judgment,  or  reflection  is  almost  entirely 
eliminated,  and  the  word  becomes  the  direct  cue  to 
an  action.  Huxley  has  a  story  which  well  illustrates 
this  point.  A  practical  joker,  seeing  a  discharged 
veteran  carrying  home  his  dinner,  suddenly  called 
out,  "Attention!"  whereupon  the  man  instantly 
brought  his  hands  down,  and  lost  his  mutton  and 
potatoes  in  the  gutter.  The  drill  had  been  thorough 
and  its  effect  had  become  embodied  in  the  man's 
nervous  structure.2 


'William  James:  "Talks  to  Teachers,"  p.  26.  Holt  &  Co.,  New 
York,  1899. 

1  "Elementary  Lessons  in  Physiology,"  Lesson  XII. 


92  ELEMENTARY  WORD  STUDY 

2  The  Nature  of  Definition 

A  very  competent  authority  gives  the  following 
exposition  of  the  process  of  finding  the  content  of 
words:1 

"The  natural  way  of  discovering  the  meaning  of  a 
word  in  our  language  is  the  method  of  induction. 
We  hear  a  word,  e.g.,  oppression,  repeated,  in  a 
certain  context,  in  such  a  way  as  to  give  us,  as  we 
think,  some  approximate  notion  of  its  meaning,  say, 
violence;  then  we  hear  it  again  in  a  different  context, 
and  perceive  that  it  cannot  mean  exactly  violence; 
it  seems  to  mean  injustice;  but  again  some  further 
mention  of  the  word  makes  it  evident  that  though 
oppression  is  always  unjust,  yet  it  is  not  identical  with 
injustice.  If  we  live  in  a  society  where  the  word  is 
often  and  correctly  used,  or  if  we  read  the  works  of 
accurate  authors,  we  shall  in  course  of  time  arrive 
at  its  exact  meaning.  This  process  of  rejection  may 
be  technically  called  elimination.  The  process  by 
which,  by  introducing  the  different  instances  in  which 
a  word  occurs,  we  arrive  at  the  meaning  which  the 
word  has  in  every  instance,  is  called  'The  Method 
of  Induction. ' ' 

It  is  evident  from  the  above  analysis  that  defini- 
tions which  are  inductively  inferred  from  the  use 

1  "English  Lessons  for  English  People,"  Edwin  A.  Abbott  and  J.  R, 
Seeley,  London,  1883. 


MEANING  AND   USE  OF  WORDS 


of  terms  are  at  first  inaccurate.  The  error  consists 
in  making  the  connotation  too  large.  The  correc- 
tion consists  in  limiting  the  meaning.  Now,  the 
Latin  definere  means  to  limit  or  fix  the  boundary. 
The  mental  process  of  definition,  therefore,  is  the  pro- 
gressive elimination  of  qualities  that  do  not  belong  to 
a  concept. 


\ 


(i)  Illustration  i     A  young    child  plays  with  a 

sheep  dog.    He  hears  others  call  this  thing  a  dog. 
A  dog  then  for  him  has  the  following  attributes: 

(a)  Runs  about. 

(b)  Has  four  legs. 

(c)  Barks. 

(d)  Is  larger  than  himself. 

(e)  Has  a  brownish  coat. 


'Modified  from  Dexter  and  Garlick's 
room."     Longmans,  1898. 


'Psychology  in  the  School- 


94  ELEMENTARY  WORD  STUDY 

The  term  at  this  stage  is  represented  by  the  square 
"a"  in  the  diagram.  He  next  sees  a  retriever, 
while  the  sheep-dog  is  present.  He  hears  the  re- 
triever called  "dog"  and  notes  that  it 

(a)  Runs  about. 

(b)  Has  four  legs. 

(c)  Barks. 

(d)  Is  larger  than  himself. 

(e)  Has  a  black  coat. 

There  is  a  temporary  confusion,  and  the  result  that 
item  (e)  is  eliminated,  and  the  square  "6"  repre- 
sents "dog"  at  the  second  stage  of  development. 

The  child  now  sees  a  spaniel,  hears  it  called  "dog," 
and  notes  that  it 

(a)  Runs  about. 

(b)  Has  four  legs. 

(c)  Barks. 

(d)  Is  smaller  than  himself. 

There  is  confusion  again,  with  a  resulting  elimina- 
tion of  item  (d),  and  the  square  "c"  represents  "dog" 
at  the  third  stage. 


MEANING  AND   USE  OF  WORDS        95 
3  Relation  of  Language-Teaching  to  Knowledge-Teaching 

What  do  we  imply  when  we  speak  of  teaching  the 
meaning  of  words?  Alexander  Bain  answers  this 
question  in  the  following  passage : 

"  Knowledge  of  things  should  always  keep  ahead  of  the  knowledge 
of  terms.1  The  more  we  inquire  into  the  early  teaching  of  language 
the  more  shall  we  find  it  to  be  in  great  part  the  teaching  of  knowledge 
under  difficulties.  The  child  is  soon  brought  into  the  situation  of  hav- 
ing to  comprehend  consecutive  speech,  many  parts  of  which  are  devoid 
of  meaning.  But  to  explain  the  words  that  are  blank  to  the  mind,  we 
have  first  to  bring  before  the  view  things  that  have  hitherto  been  en- 
tirely unknown.  We  have  to  communicate  a  knowledge  lesson,  sup- 
plemented by  a  verbal  lesson,  the  first  being  by  far  the  more  serious  of 
the  two.  If  the  teacher  can  but  compass  the  knowledge  difficulties, 
he  does  not  need  any  extraordinary  efforts  or  any  refined  methods  for 
securing  the  adherence  of  the  verbal  expression."  .  .  .  "The  best 
form  of  introducing  a  fact  would  be  its  real  occurrence  .  .  . 
but  listening  to  talk  and  book-reading  bring  forward  many  things 
without  any  reference  to  their  actual  presentation;  and  then  some 
way  of  introducing  them  has  to  be  found;  the  task  being  in  many 
instances  premature  and  impossible. " 

"It  has  already  been  noted  that  the  explanation  of  newly-occurring 
terms  is  for  the.  most  part  thing-knowledge.  When  the  word  'slave' 
is  presented  for  the  first  time,  an  explanation  of  the  state  of  slavery  is 
provided,  whereby  a  new  idea  is  imparted  to  the  pupil.  This  is  in  no 
sense  a  word  lesson,  although  the  recurrence  of  a  word  is  the  occasion 
for  teaching  the  thing.  If  the  pupil  has  had  prior  experience  of  things 
without  knowing  their  names,  to  give  the  name  is  a  language  lesson: 
this  situation  is  not  so  frequent  as  the  other. " 

1  From  "  Education  as  a  Science. " 


96  ELEMENTARY  WORD  STUDY 

4    How  Words  Get  Meaning 

A  number  of  important  investigations  have  been 
made  in  an  effort  to  discover  what  kind  of  content 
children  have  for  the  words  they  use. 

Below  will  be  found  a  brief  account  of  the  principal 
studies  that  have  been  published  on  this  phase  of 
word  study. 

(i)  THE  BERLIN  INVESTIGATION1  In  October, 
1869,  The  Berlin  Pedagogical  Verein  issued  a  cir- 
cular inviting  teachers  to  investigate  the  individuality 
of  children  entering  city  schools  so  far  as  such  in- 
dividuality was  represented  by  ideas  of  common 
objects.  The  children  were  questioned  on  seventy- 
five  different  objects  selected  from  their  environment. 
Following  are  a  few  specimens  of  the  words  employed 
and  the  number  of  children  in  10,000  that  had  con- 
tent for  the  term  used:  dwelling,  9026;  rainbow, 
7770;  cube,  6957;  moon,  6215;  frog,  5085;  triangle, 
4182;  City  Hall,  3615;  squirrel,  3579;  village,  3374; 
museum,  3222;  mushroom,  2855 ;  plough,  2036;  dew, 
2364;  lake,  2078;  willow,  1667;  sleet,  2493;  hare,  2466; 
birch,  1318;  river,  1122;  botanical  garden,  527. 

No  very  definite  conclusions  bearing  upon  our 
problem  are  drawn  from  this  study,  except  the  follow- 
ing: 

1  Vorstellingskreis  der  Berlin  Kinder  beim  Einiriti  in  die  Schule,  pp. 
59-77.  Berlin  Stadtisches  Jahrbuch,  1870, 


MEANING  AND   USE  OF  WORDS         97 

(<j)  The  content  of  children's  vocabularies  is  in- 
fluenced to  a  very  large  extent  by  their  environments 
out  of  school.  Thus,  only  18  percent  of  the  children  in 
the  schools  of  a  German  city  had  seen  the  sun  rise, 
while  42  per  cent  of  children  in  the  country  districts 
had  seen  the  same. 

(6)  Kindergarten  children  have  a  better  content 
for  words  than  those  that  come  directly  from  home 
to  the  grades.  Thus,  out  of  10,000  German  kinder- 
garten children,  7032  knew  a  swan,  while  of  10,000 
children  from  families  only  5976  knew  the  bird. 

(c)  In  a  large  majority  of  the  seventy-five  words 
employed  in  the  German  test,  they  boys  had  clearer 
concepts  than  the  girls. 

(2)  DR.  HALL'S  "CONTENTS  OF  CHILDREN'S 
MINDS  "r  In  1880,  Dr.  G.  Stanley  Hall  repeated 
the  German  experiment  in  Boston,  substituting  for 
such  words  as  were  unsuitable  in  the  foreign  list 
others  that  were  adapted  to  the  local  conditions. 
The  problem  Dr.  Hall  set  for  himself  was  this :  "What 
may  Boston  children  be  assumed,  by  teachers,  to 
know  and  have  seen  when  they  enter  school  ?  " 

With  this  general  problem  and  its  answer  we  are 
not  now  concerned;  but  as  the  test  applied  was  in 
effect  finding  what  content  children  had  for  certain 
terms,  the  study  throws  incidentally  some  light  on 

1  G.  Stanley  Hall.    E.  L.  Kellogg  Co.,  New  York,  1893. 


98  ELEMENTARY  WORD  STUDY 

the  study  of  words.  Among  the  conclusions  formu- 
lated by  Dr.  Hall  are  the  following: 

(a)  The  German  boys  had  more  content  for 
seventy-five  per  cent  of  the  Berlin  words  than  the 
girls  had.  In  Boston  the  boys  excelled  the  girls  in 
about  70  per  cent  of  the  words  used. 

(ft)  The  German  conclusion  that  kindergarten 
children  possess  a  richer  content  of  words  than  other 
children  do  is  emphatically  confirmed  by  the  Boston 
study. 

(c)  The  Boston  inquiry  also  confirms  the  con- 
clusion of  the  German  investigation  that  country 
children  have  more  content  for  words  than  city  chil- 
dren have.     For  86  per  cent  of  Dr.  Hall's  questions, 
the  intelligence  of  the  country  children  ranked  higher 
than  that  of  city  children.    "A  few  days  in  the  country 
at  this  age  (six  years)  has  raised  the  level  of  many  a 
city  child's  intelligence  more  than  a  term  or  two  of 
school-training  could  do  without  it. " 

(d)  Many  errors  in  the  use  of  words  by  children 
are  due  to  euphonic  analogy.    Numerous  illustrations 
are  given  from  the  Boston  study;  as:  "Butterflies 
make  butter;"  "grass-hoppers  give  grass;"  "honey 
is    from   honeysuckles;"  "when   the   cow   lows   it 
blows  its  own  horn;"  "a  holiday  is  a  day  to  ' holler' 
on,"    etc.     "Words    in    connection    with    rhyme, 
rhythm,  alliteration,  cadence,  or  even  without  these, 


MEANING  AND   USE  OF  WORDS        99 

simply  as  sound  pictures,  often  absorb  the  attention 
of  children,  and  yield  them  a  really  esthetic  pleasure, 
either  quite  independently  of  their  meaning,  or  to  the 
utter  bewilderment  of  it. " 

(3)  EARL  BARNES  In  Denmark  Dr.  Hall's 
study  was  repeated  by  Mr.  Olsen,  who  found  results 
identical  with  those  of  the  Boston  schools.1  These 
investigations  show  us  how  large  a  part  of  a  child's 
vocabulary  is  obtained  by  imitation  without  experi- 
ence with  the  things  which  the  words  signify.  When 
we  hear  children's  language  we  are  prone  to  imagine 
that  the  words  they  use  have  the  same  content  that  we 
put  into  them.  Nothing  could  be  further  from 
the  facts  than  such  a  view. 

Ideas  in  the  mind  of  a  child  are  quite  fragmentary 
and  incomplete,  or  entirely  erroneous.  In  using 
language  children  project  their  ideas,  as  it  were,  on  a 
screen;  and  hence  a  study  of  children's  vocabu- 
laries show  us  how  terms  grow  in  their  minds. 

In  1902  Earl  Barnes  published  a  paper  on  "How 
Words  get  Content."2  The  test  which  is  the  basis 
of  the  study  was  given  to  1200  London  Board  School 
children,  1500  Boston  school  children,  and  certain 
children  in  English  secondary  schools.  The  children 

1 "  Children's  Ideas, "  in  the  Paidologist,  England,  Vol.  II,  pp.  128- 
131- 

*  "Studies  in  Education,"  Vol.  II.,  p.  43. 


too          ELEMENTARY  WORD  STUDY 

were  asked  to  give  the  meaning  of  the  following  six 
words :  monk,  peasant,  emperor,  armor,  nation,  school. 
The  first  five  were  selected  to  represent  the  historical 
group  of  the  humanities,  and  are  fairly  representative 
of  the  vocabularies  constantly  appearing  in  all  kinds 
of  school  work  after  a  child  is  eight. 

The   returns  are  tabulated   separately  for  each 
word.    Here  are  the  results  of  the  test  for  school: 

(a)    "SCHOOL"    (Partly  or  wholly  correct  —  Boston.) 
Age        8yrs.   Qyrs.    loyrs.    nyrs.    i2yrs.    i3yrs. 
88%    93%     95%      99%       97%      98% 

School  was  chosen  because  its  meaning  was  known 
to  every  pupil  tested.  No  child  had  the  answer 
entirely  wrong.  Some  omitted  it,  probably  for  want 
of  time,  as  the  word  was  last  in  the  list.  The  table 
shows  that  when  a  child  has  an  adequate  content  for 
a  word  he  manages  to  express  himself  properly.  It 
is  therefore  assumed  that  the  inaccuracies  for  the 
remaining  words  are  due  to  lack  of  content  and  not 
merely  to  difficulties  of  expression. 

Following  are  the  results  for  armor  and  emperor: 

(V)    "ARMOR"  (No  Answer — Boston.)    Per  cents. 

Age    yyrs.   8yrs.  9yrs.    loyrs.    nyrs.    i2yrs.    ijyrs.  i4yrs. 

Boys                  34  21           18          n           12          14  n 

Girls      40        31  38          27          34          16          23  21 

(c)    ' '  ARMOR  "     (Wrong  answer  —  Boston . ) 
Boys  34        15          12  6  4  2  2 

Girls      28        18        18         17  5  7  2  2 


MEANING  AND   USE  OF  WORDS       101 

(d)  ' '  ARMOR  ' '    (Wholly  or  in  part  right  content  —  Boston . ) 
Boys  32        64         70         83         84         84         87 
Girls      32        51         44          56          61  77          75          77 

(e)  "ARMOR"    (Content  entirely  correct  —  Boston.) 

Boys  10        28          32          45          56          53          72 

Girls  4        ii  13          21          46          44          49 

We  next  compare  the  results  between  the  London 
and  Boston  children. 

(/)    "ARMOR"    (Content  entirely  correct.) 
America  7        20          23          33          51          48          60 

London     —    16        26          48          61          64          68 

The  study  of  the  word  emperor  is  based  on  1400 
returns  from  children  in  the  London  Board  Schools. 

(g)    "EMPEROR"    (No  Answer  —  London.) 
Boys      —        41        25          17  9          ii          ii  9 

Girls      —        29        35          22          14          12          15          14 

(h)    "EMPEROR"     (Content  entirely  wrong  —  London.) 
Boys  25        13          10  7  3  i  2 

Girls      —        29        12          17  6  5  4  i 

(i)    "EMPEROR"     (Content  partly  right  —  London.) 
Boys  17        30          23          10  3  3  2 

Girls  28        26          17          18          13          14  8 

(j)  "EMPEROR"     (Content  entirely  correct  —  London.) 

Age  8yrs.   9yrs.    loyrs.    nyrs.    i2yrs.    i3yrs.    i4yrs. 

Boys  3        21          34          58          60          62          74 

Girls  3        ii          22          42          48          50          65 

(k)    "PEASANT"     (Correct  content  —  London.) 

Age                          8yrs.   9yrs.      loyrs.    nyrs.    12  yrs.  I3yrs. 

Board  School                 6            2            8          20          20  20 

Secondary  School        26          31          41          21          35  43 

From  these  tables  and  the  papers  upon  which  they 
are  based  Mr.  Barnes  draws  the  following  inferences; 


102  ELEMENTARY  WORD  STUDY 

(a)  Dr.  Hall's  discovery  that  euphonic  analogy  is 
a  prolific  source  of  error  in  children's  use  of  words  is 
confirmed,  e.g.,  "Armor  is  to  hold  a  thing  by  your 
arm;"    "armor  is   a  title  given  to   Arabic   rulers 
(Ameer);"  "armor  is  a  river  (Amoor);"  "armor  is 
a  man's  name  (Armour)."     Mr.  Barnes  says  exam- 
iners should  treat  this  kind  of  errors  as  unripened 
truth,  although  it  is  difficult  to  distinguish  them  from 
mere  guesses. 

(b)  From  tables  (b)  and  (g)  we  learn  that  at 
eight  34  boys  in  100  and  31  girls  in  100  had  no  avail- 
able content  for  armor,  while  41  boys  and  29  girls 
had  no  content  for  emperor.     This  ignorance  vanishes 
with  a  fair  degree  of  steadiness,  but  even  at  fourteen 
there  are  still  from  9  to  21  per  cent  of  children  without 
content  for  these  words. 

(c)  The  effect  of  home  is  well  illustrated  by  table 
(k).    The  Board  School  children  come  from  homes 
of  laborers,  artisans,  and  small  shop  keepers.    The 
secondary  school  children  represent  the  middle-class 
homes.    The  intelligence  of  the  better-class  children 
is  from  two  to  fifteen  times  as  great  as  that  of  children 
from  the  homes  of  the  humbler  class. 

(d)  "Learning  definitions,   or  dictionary  work, 
can  never  give  any  slightest  new  content  to  the  mind ; 
it  can  simply  re-shuffle  the  existing  ideas.     Every 
child  should  know  how  to  use  a  dictionary,  but  the 


MEANING  AND   USE  OF  WORDS       103 

teacher  should  not  allow  herself  to  think  that  it  can 
furnish  new  material  for  thought.  It  can  simply  take 
content  out  of  old  terms  and  put  it  into  new  ones; 
and  generally  the  product  is  less  clear  than  before 
the  transfer." 

(e)  "All  teachers  of  subjects  in  the  humanistic 
group,  and  this  includes  all  elementary  subjects 
except  science,  should  each  year  select  from  fifty  to 
two  hundred  new  terms  connected  with  the  subject 
matter  of  that  year,  and  plan  definitely  that  their 
children  should  know  these  terms  before  they  leave 
the  grade." 

(/)  Illustrative  material  should  be  selected  with 
the  same  pains  and  care  that  a  teacher  employs  in 
preparation  for  a  lesson  in  nature  study  or  an  ex- 
periment in  elementary  science. 

(g)  These  materials  should  consist  of  carefully 
selected  pictures,  stories,  and  incidents.  They  should 
be  treated  as  similar  material  is  treated  in  a  science 
lesson.  They  should  be  observed,  analyzed,  compared, 
and  combined  with  experience  already  possessed  by 
the  children.  "A  few  terms  carefully  worked  out 
and  added  to  each  year  would  strengthen  all  the  rest 
of  the  vocabulary  not  thus  carefully  elaborated, 
and  would  give  a  foundation  for  good  dictionary 
work. " 

(h)    The  method  suggested  for   the   elementary 


ELEMENTARY  WORD  STUDY 


school  would  apply  equally  to  the  high  school  and  to 
the  university. 

(4)  WILL  GRANT  CHAMBERS1  In  1904,  Mr.  Cham- 
bers published  the  results  of  a  study  which  he  made 
to  verify  the  inferences  of  Mr.  Barnes.  He  employed 
the  same  method  and  the  same  words  that  had  been 
used  in  England;  namely,  monk,  peasant,  emperor, 
armor,  nation,  school.  As  in  the  case  of  Mr.  Barnes, 
school  was  used  to  discover  to  what  extent  children 
at  different  ages  can  express  the  meaning  of  a  word 
with  which  they  are  perfectly  familiar.  The  remain- 
ing words  were  used  because  the  child  is  probably 
ignorant  of  their  meaning  when  he  enters  school, 
but  is  expected  to  know  them  when  he  arrives  at  the 
high  school  age.  The  results  in  figures  and  the 
inferences  of  this  study  are  practically  identical  with 
the  findings  of  Mr.  Barnes. 

Q  5  Summary  of  Conclusions 

(1)  The  content  of  children's  vocabularies  is  influ- 
enced to  a  very  large  extent  by  their  environments 
out  of  school.   (See  especially  table  k  of  Barnes's  test.) 

(2)  Kindergarten  children  '  have  a  better  content 
for  words  than  those  that  have  never  been  in  a  kinder- 
garten.    Such  is  the  experience  of  Boston  and  Berlin. 

(3)  Boys  seem  to  have  clearer  concepts  as  to  the 

1  "How  Words  Get  Meaning,"  Pedagogical  Seminary,  Vol.  XL,  p.  48. 


MEANING  AND   USE  OF  WORDS       105 

meaning  of  words  than  girls  have.    This  is  true  of 
the  Boston  and  of  the  Berlin  children. 

(4)  German  and  American  investigators  agree 
in  the  conclusion  that  country  children  have  more 
content  for  words  than  city  children  have. 

(5)  Many  errors  in  the  use  of  words  by  children 
are  due  to  euphonic  analogy  (stature  —  statue). 

(6)  At  eight,  about  thirty  per  cent  of  the  English 
children  tested  had  no  available  content  for  "armor" ; 
forty  per  cent  of  the  boys  and  thirty  per  cent  of  the 
girls  had  no  content  for  "emperor." 

(7)  Learning    definitions    can    never    give    any 
slightest  new  content  to  the  mind;  it  can  simply  re- 
shuffle the  existing  ideas. 

(8)  All  teachers  of  subjects  in  the  humanistic 
group  should  each  year  select  from  fifty  to  two  hun- 
dred new  terms  connected  with  the  subject  matter  of 
that  year,  and  plan  definitely  that  their  children 
should    know    t.hese    terms  before  they  leave  the 
grade. 

(9)  Illustrative  material  should  be  collected  with 
the  same  pains  and  care  that  a  teacher  employs  in 
preparation  for  a  lesson  in  nature  study  or  an  ex- 
periment in  elementary  science. 

(10)  These  materials  should  consist  of  carefully 
selected  pictures,  stories,  and  incidents.    They  should 
be  treated  as  similar  material  is  treated  in  a  science 


io6  ELEMENTARY  WORD  STUDY 

lesson.  They  should  be  observed,  analyzed,  and 
compared,  and  combined  with  experience  already 
possessed  by  the  children. 

(u)  When  a  child,  at  any  age,  has  an  adequate 
content  for  a  word  he  manages  to  express  himself 
properly  (correct  content  for  "school,"  88  per  cent 
at  8,  98  per  cent  at  13). 

6  Words  Not  to  be  Defined 

It  may  be  well  to  specify  just  the  classes  of  words 
whose  meanings  should  not  be  taught  in  the  ele- 
mentary school. 

(i)  Too  DIFFICULT  Many  words  occur  in 
the  books  used  in  school  whose  meaning  is  too  ab- 
stract or  refined  for  the  child  at  the  time.  It  is 
unwise  to  select  such  terms  for  instruction  because 
they  can  be  more  successfully  taught  and  learned  at 
a  more  mature  stage  of  advancement.  We  must 
recall  in  this  connection  the  fact  already  explained, 
that  learning  the  meaning  of  words  is  really  a  know- 
ledge-lesson ;  and  there  are  many  kinds  of  knowledge 
that  a  pupil  in  the  grades  cannot  possibly  compre- 
hend. Among  the  terms  here  alluded  to  are  very 
technical  or  unusual  words,  and  words  of  ethical  or 
moral  significance  beyond  the  experience  of  chil- 
dren. 

The   following   are   examples:  plasmodium,   par- 


MEANING  AND   USE  OF  WORDS       107 

thenogenesis,  psychology,  anthropology,  autocracy, 
profligacy,  sensuality,  sanctiftcation,  free-thinker,  tran- 
substantiation.  Our  time  is  limited,  and  we  should 
devote  ourselves  to  the  task  of  equipping  the  pupil 
with  a  vocabulary  of  words  in  ordinary  use,  and 
should  not  anticipate  the  work  of  the  secondary 
school  and  college. 

(2)  Too  EASY  Another  class  of  words  that 
should  be  excluded  from  the  meaning  list  consists  of 
words  in  common  use  whose  meaning  is  familiar  to  all 
children.  The  following  are  examples:  knuckle, 
laughter,  Wednesday,  mirror,  music,  neighbor,  nine- 
teen, nurse,  sponge,  though.  The  object  of  definition 
is  to  bring  the  "meaning"  of  words  to  the  mind; 
that  is,  to  develop  or  suggest  the  object  or  idea  for 
which  the  word  stands.  If  this  knowledge,  or  con- 
tent, or  meaning  is  already  well-known,  why  waste 
time  in  carrying  coal  to  Newcastle  ? 

It  is  evident,  from  the  preceding  illustrations,  that 
the  exclusion  of  words  from  the  meaning  list  is  quite 
as  important  as  the  selection  of  the  proper  words. 
Not  all  the  words  used  by  a  child  or  employed  in  his 
books  are  to  be  denned  or  explained.  How  bar- 
barous, then,  was  the  practice,  once  very  common, 
of  requiring  children  to  commit  all  the  definitions 
found  in  the  dictionary!  One  writer  confesses  that 
he  took  a  class  through  Worcester's  dictionary  regu- 


io8  ELEMENTARY  WORD  STUDY 

larly  from  beginning  to  end,1  although  another 
author,  twenty  years  before,  had  condemned  the 
practice  in  the  following  sensible  paragraph  :2 

"To  say  that  it  would  be  impossible  to  remember 
the  definitions  thus  abstractly  learned  would  be  to 
assert  what  must  be  perfectly  obvious  to  every  one. 
And  even  if  they  could  be  remembered,  they  would 
be  of  little  utility,  for  as  the  right  application  of  a 
definition  must  depend  entirely  on  the  situation  of 
the  word  to  be  explained  and  the  office  it  performs 
in  a  sentence,  the  repeating  of  half  a  score  of  mean- 
ings, as  obscure  perhaps  as  the  word  itself,  conveys 
no  definite  thought,  and  serves  rather  to  darken  than 
to  illumine  the  mind." 

7  What  Words  to  Define 

The  meaning  and  use  list  should  contain  at  least 
the  following  two  classes : 

(i)  WORDS  IN  COMMON  USE  WHOSE  MEANING 
is  NOT  FAMILIAR  TO  THE  CHILDREN  The  selection 
of  this  list  depends  entirely  upon  circumstances. 
We  have  seen  that  the  home  environment  affects 
the  vocabularies  of  children.  Only  two  per  cent 
of  the  nine-year-old  pupils  in  the  Board  Schools  of 

1  Christopher  A.  Green:  "Methods  of  Teaching  Spelling,"  Journal 
oj  the  American  Institute  of  Instruction,  1851,  p.  181. 

*G.  P.  Thayer:  "On  the  Spelling  of  Words,"  Journal  oj  American 
Institute  of  Instruction,  1830,  p.  123. 


MEANING  AND   USE  OF  WORDS      109 

London  knew  the  meaning  of  "peasant,"  while 
thirty-one  per  cent  of  the  children  of  the  same  age 
in  a  private  school  knew  the  word.  We  have  shown 
also  that  kindergarten  children  have  a  better  content 
for  words  than  others  of  the  same  age ;  that  country 
children  are  superior  to  city  children ;  and  that  boys 
have  slightly  the  advantage  of  girls. 

(2)  WORDS  NEEDED  TO  MASTER  THE  COURSE  OF 
STUDY  In  the  second  place,  we  must  teach  the 
meaning  of  words  that  are  needed  to  master  the 
subject-matter  of  the  grade.  A  large  proportion  of 
the  words  that  occur  in  school  books  have  the  vaguest 
kind  of  content  for  the  child  or  no  content  at  all. 
The  following  simple  experiment  illustrates  this  fact : 
A  seventh-year  class  had  read  Longfellow's  "The 
Courtship  of  Miles  Standish, "  and  were  asked  to  tell 
the  meaning  of  a  few  words  selected  from  the  text 
of  the  first  two  pages.  This  was  the  result : 

Words  Per  Cent  of  Children  who  Knew  the  Meaning 

clad  12 

doublet  o 

anon  o 

stature  50  (confused  with  statue) 

athletic  15 

sinews  o 

azure  6 

scribe  i 

Perhaps  the  best  way  to  find  out  what  words  need 


no          ELEMENTARY  WORD  STUDY 

to  be  taught  in  a  given  class  is  to  test  the  children. 
Mr.  Barnes  has  shown  that  if  a  pupil  has  content  for 
a  word,  he  manages  to  express  himself  with  sufficient 
clearness.  We  may,  therefore,  assume  that  if  he 
cannot  tell  the  meaning  of  a  word  he  has  no  meaning 
to  tell.  Every  grade,  even  every  class,  will  almost 
necessarily  have  its  peculiar  list,  and  will  scarcely 
have  the  same  list  during  any  two  successive  terms. 
Teachers  in  the  same  grade  often  have  different  text- 
books; and  therefore,  a  list  selected  by  one  teacher 
might  be  partially  useless  to  another.  These  lists 
cannot  well  be  made  in  advance.  As  the  reading,  or 
study,  or  experiment  proceeds,  the  words  come  up. 
If  the  meaning  is  known,  there  is  no  occasion  for  wast- 
ing time  on  it.  If  the  word  is  new  and  its  meaning 
within  the  comprehension  of  the  pupil,  it  is  put  into 
the  meaning  and  use  list. 


VII 

Methods  of  Teaching  the  Meaning  and 
Use  of  Words 

We  have  now  reached  the  most  difficult  part  of  our 
problem.  How  shall  the  schoolmaster  put  content 
into  the  words  of  his  pupil  ?  This  has  been  the  prob- 
lem of  the  ages.  Words  are  the  "ambassadors"  and 
"sole  expounders"  of  the  mind,  hence  all  knowledge 
must  be  communicated  from  the  master's  mind,  as 
well  as  from  books,  to  the  pupil's  mind  by  means  of 
words.  Words  are  competent  to  fulfil  their  function 
only  when  they  represent  the  same  things  to  the  two 
communicating  minds.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  they 
never  do  this;  but  in  the  case  of  adults,  they  do  it 
with  sufficient  approximation  to  render  the  exchange 
of  ideas  possible.  The  immaturity  and  want  of 
experience  on  the  part  of  the.  child,  however,  serve 
sometimes  to  make  words  non-conductors  of  thought. 
In  order  to  secure  the  best  results  in  the  most  econo- 
mical way,  the  knowledge  of  things  and  the  know- 
ledge of  terms  should  progress  together.  As  a  child 


ii2  ELEMENTARY  WORD  STUDY 

in  his  early  years  comes  in  contact  with  all  sorts  of 
people  whose  conversation  he  hears,  and  later  reads 
all  sorts  of  books,  magazines,  and  papers,  it  is  im- 
possible to  keep  the  knowledge  and  vocabulary  abreast 
of  each  other.  The  vocabulary  usually  outruns  the 
knowledge,  being  picked  up  and  employed  loosely  by 
imitation.  Sometimes  the  opposite  condition  obtains, 
the  child  having  ideas  and  feelings  without  the  neces- 
sary language  for  adequate  expression.  He  is  de- 
ficient in  words  representing  subjective  states,  because 
he  is  too  young  for  the  introspective  processes  involved 
in  the  use  of  subjective  terms.  He  is  prone  to  use 
the  general  rather  than  the  specific  word  in  his 
descriptions  and  narrations.  For  instance,  if  he  has 
been  at  a  picnic,  he  says  he  has  had  "nice  things  to 
eat."  When  he  gets  older  he  will  probably  say 
he  has  had  "thin,  dainty,  chicken  sandwiches,  olives, 
grapes,  and  little  cakes  with  pink  icing  on  them." 
When  we  try  to  bring  the  vocabulary  up  to  the  know- 
ledge, the  process  is  purely  a  language  lesson;  when 
we  try  to  bring  the  knowledge  up  to  the  vocabulary, 
the  process  is  a  knowledge-lesson.  In  both  cases  it 
is  called  word  study;  but  in  the  one  instance  it  is 
finding  the  meaning  of  words,  while  in  the  other  it 
is  learning  the  use  of  words. 


METHODS  OF  TEACHING  MEANING  113 

I    Inductive 

There  are  two  principal  methods  of  teaching  the 
meaning  of  words,  the  inductive  and  the  deductive. 
The  inductive  method  has  already  been  described 
in  one  of  its  aspects  in  the  previous  'chapter.  We 
shall  next  try  to  discriminate  the  several  forms  of 
the  inductive  method. 

(i)  THE  NATURAL  METHOD  This  is  the  spon- 
taneous procedure  the  child  follows  in  learning  to 
speak.  Its  application  in  the  class-room  would 
require  the  frequent  use  of  a  word  in  the  presence 
of  the  pupil,  so  that  almost  unconsciously  he  would 
infer  the  correct  use.  Now,  how  can  this  be  ac- 
complished? The  following  description  of  a  device 
is  offered  as  an  answer  to  the  question:1 

"In  a  day's  exercises  the  teacher  will  select  three 
or  four  words  which  are  to  be  subjects  of  instruction. 
Of  course,  every  unfamiliar  word  has  been  explained, 
but  these  are  put  aside  for  future  treatment.  The 
limitations  of  the  classroom  allow  only  an  artificial 
application  of  the  natural  method.  I  have  en- 
deavored to  approximate  it  by  printing  such  words 
on  charts  and  exposing  them  in  a  conspicuous  place 
in  the  class-room  without  comment,  so  that  there  are 
always  about  eight  words  before  the  eyes  of  the  pupil. 

1  Albert  Shiels,  District  Superintendent  of  Schools,  New  York,  is  the 
author  of  this  device. 


ii4  ELEMENTARY  WORD  STUDY 

Furthermore,  the  teacher  will  use  these  words  in  his 
conversation  when  possible,  and  it  does  not  require 
a  master  of  language  to  introduce  ordinary  words 
into  the  class-room  conversation.  Imitation  will 
contribute  its  share;  and  teachers  who  have  tried 
this  method  state  that  their  pupils  will  introduce  the 
words  into  compositions  through  the  suggestion  of 
the  chart  and  the  teacher. 

Not  until  one  week  later,  will  the  word  be  con- 
sidered as  a  formal  subject  of  instruction,  and  by 
that  time  it  is  something  more  than  a  bare  unknown 
term.  It  is  "warm"  to  the  pupil.  The  sense  in 
which  the  word  will  be  selected  will  be  the  same  as 
that  in  which  it  first  occurred,  and  it  is,  of  course, 
assumed  that  when  it  was  first  chosen  it  was  used  in 
one  of  its  general  meanings.  The  definition  is  now 
taken  up,  and  it  must  be  developed,  not  merely  taken 
like  a  dead  mummy  from  a  dictionary.  How  far 
figurative  meanings  may  be  drawn  out  must  be 
determined  by  the  grade." 

A  child's  knowledge  of  a  term  is,  of  course,  never 
complete,  and  not  very  exact.  The  younger  he  is, 
the  smaller  the  degree  of  accuracy  and  completeness 
we  can  expect.  It  is  necessary  for  the  teacher  to 
provide  for  grades  of  exactness;  so  that  he  may  not 
demand  of  a  fourth  grade  pupil  the  same  degree  of 
perfection  that  he  demands  of  an  eighth  grade  pupil. 


METHODS  OF  TEACHING  MEANING  115 

The  question  as  to  when  formal  or  systematic 
work  in  the  meaning  and  use  of  words  should  begin 
is  pertinent  at  this  point.  -The  child  is  occupied 
during  the  first  three  years  of  school  in  an  effort  to 
overcome  the  mechanical  difficulties  of  reading, 
and  a  large  proportion  of  the  words  employed  in  his 
reading  lessons  are  selected  from  his  oral  vocabulary. 
During  this  period  he  is  not  able  to  read  books  on 
his  own  account  for  the  purpose  of  acquiring  know- 
ledge. He  therefore  meets  with  relatively  few  words 
that  are  strange  to  him.  He  has  been  engaged  in 
recognizing  words  previously  familiar  as  ear-symbols 
in  their  new  disguise  as  eye-symbols.  During  the 
fourth  year  independent  book-study  begins;  and  a 
host  of  strange  terms  are  encountered,  which  must 
be  known  if  the  subject-matter  of  the  book  is  to  be 
understood.  All  these  considerations  point  to  the 
fourth  year  as  the  proper  time  for  the  beginning  of 
the  study  of  the  meaning  of  words. 

(2)  THE  USE  OF  CONTEXT  The  stories  in  the 
school-readers  usually  deal  with  facts  familiar  to 
children,  which  are  expressed  in  language  choice 
and  frequently  adorned.  In  reading  such  material 
the  pupil's  language  stores  are  insensibly  increased. 
By  asking  questions  on  the  text  and  encouraging 
children  to  answer  in  the  language  of  the  book,  the 
teacher  may  train  his  class  in  the  habit  of  the  correct 


n6  ELEMENTARY  WORD  STUDY 

use  of  words.  The  meaning  of  many  new  words  can 
be  inferred  from  the  context.  The  pupil  in  this  case 
is  really  employing  the  natural  method  explained 
under  the  preceding  topic.  The  difference  is  that 
in  the  former  instance  he  inferred  the  meaning  of 
words  by  hearing  them  used,  whereas  now  he  learns 
by  seeing  them  used. 

(3)  MEMORIZING  Another  inductive  method  of 
learning  the  meaning  of  words  consists  in  committing 
passages  to  memory.  Poetry  is  especially  recom- 
mended for  this  purpose  by  Alexander  Bain.1  Poetry 
contains  thoughts,  images,  and  expressions  such 'as 
are  capable  of  taking  part  in  our  future  intellectual 
constructions.  Impassioned  and  rhythmical  prose 
is  next  in  value  to  poetry  for  memorizing  purposes. 
Selections  should  be  chosen  which  are  expressed  in 
short,  happy  phrase,  rather  than  in  long  and  com- 
plicated sentences.  A  mind  well  stored  with  language 
thus  carefully  chosen  will  unconsciously  catch  some 
of  the  tricks  of  style  and  learn  to  discriminate  nice 
shades  of  meaning.  A  little  girl  once  crossed  Newark 
Bay  with  me  on  a  windy  autumn  day.  The  water 
was  rough  and  as  the  child  caught  sight  of  the  water's 
edge,  she  exclaimed,  "The  waves  dashed  high  on 
a  wild  New  England  shore."  In  this  way  the 
memorized  stores  through  association  become  avail- 

1  "Education  as  a  Science." 


METHODS  OF  TEACHING  MEANING  117 

able    for    future    demands    in    oral    and    written 
composition. 

(4)  THE  METHOD  OF  STORY  AND  PICTURE  Earl 
Barnes  came  to  the  conclusion  from  his  inquiry  on 
"How  Words  Get  Content,"  that  teachers  should 
select  for  special  study  from  fifty  to  two  hundred 
terms  each  year;  that  they  should  collect  illustrative 
material  with  the  same  care  a  teacher  employs  in 
an  experiment  in  elementary  science;  that  these 
materials  should  consist  of  pictures,  stories,  and 
incidents;  that  these  should  be  treated  as  similar 
material  is  treated  in  science,  i.  e.,  they  should  be  ob- 
served, analyzed,  compared;  and  that  finally  the 
pupil  should  infer  the  proper  use  of  words  as  a  result 
of  such  study.  I  think  we  may  call  this  the  story 
method.  Mr.  Chambers1  warns  us  against  one 
danger  in  this  form  of  teaching.  We  must  be  careful 
not  to  let  the  meaning  of  a  word  depend  upon  a  single 
incident,  but  should  vary  its  use  sufficiently  to  bring 
out  its  essential  content  by  several  common  appli- 
cations. For  instance,  a  child  on  being  asked  for 
the  meaning  of  " peasant, "  wrote:  "A  peasant  is  a 
farmer  in  Holland."  Another  child  wrote  for  a 
definition  of  "  emperor, "  "An  emperor  is  the  ruler 
of  Germany."  A  third  wrote  for  "monk,"  "A 
monk  is  a  man  who  hunts  people  who  are  lost."  I 

1  "  How  Words  Get  Meaning,"  Pedagogical  Seminary,  Vol.  XI.,  p.  48. 


n8  ELEMENTARY  WORD  STUDY 

offer  below  three  stories  or  incidents  to  illustrate  the 
method  of  teaching  here  described: 

Scalawag  —  During  the  period  of  reconstruction 
after  our  Civil  War,  the  colored  people  of  the  South 
were  enfranchised,  while  most  of  the  men  of  influence 
and  ability  were  disfranchised  on  account  of  having 
taken  part  in  the  rebellion.  This  left  the  affairs  of 
government  in  the  hands  of  three  classes  —  the 
enfranchised  slaves,  the  "carpet-baggers,"  and  the 
"  scalawags. "  These  last  were  Southern  white  Re- 
publicans. The  name  applied  to  them  originated 
in  the  experience  of  a  man  who  was  kicked  by  a  sheep 
so  that  he  died.  "He  said  he  didn't  mind  being 
kicked,  but  he  hated  the  idea  of  being  kicked  to 
death  by  the  meanest  wether  in  the  whole  flock,  the 
scaly  sheep."  Therefore  "scaly  wag,"  or  scalawag, 
was  applied  to  a  man  who  was  supposed  to  be  meaner 
than  a  carpet-bagger.  '  The  word  now  means  a 
scamp  or  worthless  fellow. 

Carpet-baggers  The  so-called  carpet-baggers 
were  Northern  men  who  went  to  the  South  during 
the  period  of  Reconstruction.  Many  of  them  had 
been  Union  soldiers.  They  were  attracted  by  the 
high  price  of  cotton,  and  became  planters.  As  their 
ventures  were  generally  unsuccessful,  they  took  ad- 

1  "History  of  the  United  States,"  by  Jas.  P.  Rhodes.  Macmillan, 
1906,  Vol.  VI.,  p.  91. 


METHODS  OF  TEACHING  MEANING  119 

vantage  of  the  new  conditions  to  earn  a  livelihood  in 
politics,  which  was  open  to  them  on  account  of  the 
wholesale  disfranchisement  of  Southern  white  men. 
Their  worldly  goods,  it  was  supposed,  could  all  be 
carried  in  a  carpet-bag;  hence,  they  became  known 
as  carpet-baggers.1  This  word  is  now  applied 
sometimes  to  any  one  who  seeks  his  fortune  in  new 
or  untried  fields. 

The  Story  of  the  Word  "Petrel"  A  petrel  is  a 
little  black  and  white  seabird.  It  has  long,  pointed 
wings  that  will  carry  it  for  days  over  the  ocean.  It 
likes  to  spread  its  wings  and  speed  along  after  some 
ship.  It  is  quite  at  home  upon  the  water  and  appears 
to  walk  on  the  billows. 

Once  when  the  disciples  of  Jesus  were  in  a  ship 
tossed  by  the  waves,  Jesus  walked  toward  them  over 
the  sea.  Peter,  one  of  the  disciples,  came  down 
from  the  ship  and  stepped  out  upon  the  water  to 
meet  Jesus,  his  master. 

Peter  and  the  seabird  both  braved  the  sea,  and 
appeared  to  walk  upon  the  waves.  Therefore  the 
bird  was  called  petrel,  which  means  "little  Peter." 

(5)  DRAMATIZATION  In  the  primary  grades,  be- 
fore the  period  for  the  formal  study  of  meanings  has 
arrived,  dramatization  has  in  modern  days  become 
a  useful  means  of  giving  richness  of  content  to  the 

1  "  History  of  the  United  States, "  Rhodes.    Macmillan,  Vol.  VI.,  p.  91. 


120  ELEMENTARY  WORD  STUDY 

spoken  and  written  symbols  that  are  thrust  upon  the 
child  in  such  profusion. 

The  story  will  be  told  or  read  one  day,  and  the 
next  some  children  will  be  allowed  to  "act  out"  the 
incidents  as  related.  This  device  is  particularly 
useful  to  pupils  who  come  from  uncultured  homes, 
where  the  daily  conversation  furnishes  no  assistance 
in  learning  the  use  of  words. 

* 

2    Deductive 

When  we  have  ascertained  the  meaning  of  a  word 
by  induction,  it  is  sometimes  of  use  to  confirm,  or 
narrow  still  further,  our  definition  by  another  method 
—  the  method  of  deduction. 

Many  of  our  least  familiar  words  are  derived  from 
Latin  or  Greek  words;  others  from  Latin  through 
French.  By  taking  such  compound  English  words 
to  pieces,  and  translating  their  foreign  roots  into 
English,  we  can  often  deduce  the  exact  meaning  of 
the  compound  word.  Thus  by  knowing  that  ge 
is  Greek  for  earth,  and  that  logy  means  science, 
we  may  see  that  "geology"  means  science  of  earth. 
But  this  is  not  always  a  safe  process.1 

(i)  PREFIXES  AND  SUFFIXES  At  first  the  pupil 
learns  words  as  wholes.  A  little  later  he  learns  their 

1  Abbott:  "  English  Lessons  for  English  People, "  p.  22. 


METHODS  OF   TEACHING  MEANING  121 

parts  as  sounds  and  syllables  for  purposes  of  spelling 
and  identification.  He  learns  the  meaning  of  new 
words  considered  as  wholes,  also.  Of  the  majority 
of  words  used  by  him  in  his  early  years,  he  infers  the 
meaning  unconsciously.  During  the  first  three 
years  he  deals  chiefly  with  words  taken  from  his  oral 
vocabulary.  During  the  fourth  year  he  begins  to 
read  books  for  information  or  pleasure,  and  thus 
learns  the  necessity  for  exercises  in  finding  the  mean- 
ing of  new  words.  During  the  fifth  year  we  may 
properly  begin  to  show  him  that  the  parts  of  which 
words  are  composed  may  give  a  clue  to  their  meaning. 
The  first  steps  in  this  work  should  be  analytic. 
Taking  some  familiar  word  like  recall,  the  teacher 
shows  that  it  may  be  separated  into  two  parts  —  re 
and  call.  The  children  know  the  meaning  of  call; 
perhaps  some  know  the  meaning  of  recall.  Other 
similar  words  are  submitted,  such  as  rearrange, 
rebound,  reclaim.  The  children  may,  by  this  time, 
infer  the  meaning  of  re.  Then  it  is  explained  that  in 
such  words  the  first  part  is  called  prefix  and  the  second 
part  stem.  Suffixes  are  treated  in  the  same  way. 
It  has  been  suggested  that  in  these  first  exercises  we 
reject  all  words  whose  stems  cannot  be  used  as  words. 
This  would  exclude  from  our  list  such  words  as  report 
and  reflect,  but  would  retain  re-exchange  and  reform.1 

1  Emma  L.  Johnston,  Brooklyn  Training  School. 


122  ELEMENTARY  WORD  STUDY 

After  some  little  drill  of  the  analytic  sort,  the  process 
may  be  reversed,  and  children  required  to  build 
words  out  of  given  elements.  The  building  may 
take  the  form  of  a  co-operative  exercise  on  the  board, 
teacher  and  class  working  together,  or  the  elements 
previously  learned  may  be  given  as  a  written  test. 
The  children  should  give  the  meaning  of  the  ele- 
ments used,  as  well  as  the  literal  and  current  meanings 
of  the  words  they  build.  They  should  not  be  en- 
couraged or  allowed  to  add  prefixes  and  suffixes  to 
words  merely  because  such  additions  are  possible. 
Thus,  we  may  build  sensible  and  senseless  from 
sense,  but  we  do  not  want  sensibility  or  sensual, 
because  these  words  could  not  properly  be  defined 
for  children. 

In  the  fifth  year  I  would  not  require  pupils  to  copy 
any  of  this  work  into  note-books.  The  teacher 
should,  however,  enter  the  words  analyzed,  as  well 
as  the  stems,  prefixes,  and  suffixes  used,  into  her 
progress  book  for  reference,  review,  and  drill. 

(a)  Graded  Lists  Essential  It  was  suggested 
above  that  the  beginning  of  the  etymological  analysis 
and  synthesis  be  somewhat  informal.  It  is  not 
intended  that  the  work  shall  be  haphazard.  On 
the  contrary,  the  principal  should  provide  a  graded 
list  of  elements  to  be  taught  and  reviewed  in  each 
class.  This  is  essential  to  economy  of  effort.  Unless 


METHODS  OF  TEACHING  MEANING  123 

each  grade  has  a  definite  amount  of  work  prescribed, 
all  the  teachers  might  be  frittering  away  the  children's 
time  on  the  same  dozen  or  score  of  elements.  What 
particular  work  is  done  in  a  particular  grade  is  not 
nearly  so  important  as  the  demand  that  the  work 
shall  be  definitely  agreed  upon  and  faithfully  per- 
formed. 

(b)  Review  Work  By  way  of  review  the  pre- 
fixes and  suffixes  may  be  arranged  into  classes  ac- 
cording to  the  language  from  which  they  come,  and 
according  to  their  meaning,  as  shown  in  the  following 

table: 

ENGLISH  PREFIXES 

a  =  at,  in,  on  out  =  beyond 

be  =  to  make,  by  over  =  above 

en  (em)  —  in,  on,  to  make  to  —  the,  this 

for  =  not,  from  un  =  not,  opposite  act 

fore  =  before  under  =  beneath 

mis  =  wrong,  wrongly  with  =  against,  from 

The  teacher  should  remember  that  the  object  of 
this  work  is  to  furnish  a  key  to  the  meaning  of  words, 
and,  above  all,  to  stimulate  the  interest  of  children 
in  the  study  of  words.RThe  lesson,  therefore,  must 
never  descend  to  a  lifeless,   mechanical  drill;  for^ 
that  is  the  surest  way  to  destroy  whatever  interest  a  1 
child  may  have  in  words  and  to  render  the  whole 
performance   worthless,  jl 

(2)    DEFINITION    A  second  form  of  the  deductive 


124  ELEMENTARY  WORD  STUDY 

method  of  finding  the  meaning  of  words  is  the  use  of 
the  definition.  The  dictionary  gives  a  list  of  the 
meanings  in  which  the  word  may  be  used.  By  com- 
paring these  definitions  with  the  context,  we  infer 
that  one  or  the  other  of  the  meanings  applies  in  the 
given  case.  We  have  already  found,  from  a  study 
of  the  psychology  of  meanings,  that  definitions  can 
never  give  new  content  to  the  mind.  They  can, 
however,  re-shuffle  the  existing  ideas,  and  often 
explain  the  strange  by  the  familiar. 

Suppose  the  child  finds  the  word  occlude,  as  used 
by  the  dentist.  He  turns  to  the  dictionary  and  finds 
that  occlude  is  defined  by  the  synonym  to  shut.  But 
very  frequently  the  definition  is  as  much  of  an  enigma 
as  the  word  it  attempts  to  define.  The  following 
letter  written  by  a  parent  of  foreign  birth  to  a  New 
York  school  principal  was  evidently  elaborated 
from  dictionary  definitions: 

Dear  Miss  B. 

Please  exculpate  my  son  Moses  for  being  absent  from  school  one 
aggregate  day  because  his  mother  substantive  sick  and  he  had  to  so- 
journ in  the  house  perpetual,  so  please  apology  him  this  one  day  ab- 
sence and  oblige  his  father. 

While  the  dictionary,  therefore,  has  its  value,  it 
is  not  suitable  for  the  use  of  very  young  children. 
The  beginning  of  the  study  of  meanings  must  be  by 
the  inductive  method.  But  in  about  the  fifth  or  sixth 


METHODS  OF  TEACHING  MEANING  125 

year,  after  children  have  had  some  work  in  word 
analysis  and  word  building  by  means  of  prefixes  and 
suffixes,  they  should  be  v  gradually  trained  to  get 
information  from  the  dictionary. 

(a)  Synonyms  One  of  the  forms  of  definition 
is  the  method  of  synonyms. 

"The  first  decided  amplification  of  language 
lessons  on  the  great  scale  is  the  teaching  of  synony- 
mous words.  The  best  example  of  this  is  the  per- 
petual passing  to  and  fro  between  our  two  vocabu- 
laries —  Saxon  and  Classical.  The  pupils  bring 
with  them  the  homely  names  for  what  they  know, 
and  the  master  translates  these  into  the  more  dignified 
and  accurate  names;  or  in  reading,  he  makes  the 
learned  terms  intelligible  by  referring  to  the  more 
familiar."1 

In  the  following  list  of  synonyms  there  is  probably 
one  word  in  each  series  that  is  familiar  to  most  chil- 
dren, and  by  means  of  which  the  remaining  words 
in  the  group  are  understood: 

English  Latin  Greek 

well-bred  civ  il  po  lite 

strength  vig  or  en  er  gy 

tease  tor  ment  tan  ta  lize 

sight  spec  ta  cle  scene 

shel  ter  ref  uge  a  sy  lum 

fore  tell  pre  diet  proph  e  sy 

1  Bain:  "Education  as  a  Science." 


i26  ELEMENTARY  WORD  STUDY 

bold  cou  ra  geous  he  ro  ic 

dark  en  ob  scure  e  clipse 

time  e  ra  pe  ri  od 

foe  en  e  mf"  an  tag  o  nist 

stress  ac  cent  em  pha  sis 

The  study  of  synonyms  has  long  been  regarded 
as  a  valuable  intellectual  discipline.  It  cultivates  a 
habit  of  thorough  investigation  into  the  meaning  of 
words,  and  this  habit  is  indispensable  to  precision 
and  accuracy  of  thought.  Slovenly  use  of  words 
implies  slovenly  thinking.  While  the  drill  on  syn- 
onyms cannot  be  very  thorough  or  formal  in  the  ele- 
mentary grades,  it  may  be  used  as  a  mode  of  definition 
and  for  the  purpose  of  inducing  children  to  acquire 
the  habit  of  making  nice  distinctions  between  words. 
By  and  by  the  process  of  critical  study  in  the  use  of 
words  will  become  spontaneous,  and  the  child  will 
unconsciously  select  the  term  with  the  right  shade  of 
meaning. 

(6)  Figurative  and  Poetical  Equivalents  A 
special  application  of  the  method  of  teaching  words 
by  synonyms  is  the  use  of  figurative  and  poetical 
equivalents.  In  a  sixth-year  reading  lesson,  recently 
heard  by  the  writer,  the  word  fireside  occurred.  The 
children  who  knew  the  meaning  of  the  word  were 
asked  to  stand;  thirty  per  cent  arose.  They  were 
then  asked  to  give  a  definition.  Every  pupil  took 
the  word  in  its  literal  sense  to  represent  a  place  where 


METHODS  OF  TEACHING  MEANING  127 

fire  is  kept.  It  is  a  valuable  lesson  in  such  cases  to 
point  out  the  figurative  extension  of  the  word.  There 
lurks  in  many  such  applications  a  singular  poetic 
beauty,  which  children  are  capable  of  appreciating. 
Another  useful  exercise  consists  in  adducing  equiva- 
lent idiomatic  phrases  for  single  words.  Roget's 
Thesaurus  is  a  treasure-house  of  such  material. 
For  instance,  where  we  distrust  a  person  or  situation, 
"we smell  a  rat;"  if  we  have  courage,  we  "put  on  a 
bold  front,"  or  "come  to  the  scratch;"  when  we  die, 
we  "shake  off  this  moral  coil,"  or  "pay  the  debt  to 
nature, "  or  "  go  to  our  long  home. "  There  is  a  subtle 
reaction  of  the  knowledge  of  things  in  this  exercise 
because  figures  imply  a  comparison  of  one  object  with 
another,  and  they  are  used  to  intensify  and  elucidate 
the  meaning. 

3    Tests  of  Meaning 

How  shall  the  child's  knowledge  of  the  meaning 
of  a  word  be  tested? 

(i)  DEFINITIONS  NOT  TO  BE  COPIED  OR  MEMO- 
RIZED Under  no  circumstances  should  children  be 
required  to  memorize  the  formal  words  of  the  defini- 
tions found  in  the  dictionary,  nor  should  they  ever 
be  required  to  copy  definitions  into  note-books  from 
the  dictation  of  the  teacher.1  An  enormous  waste  of 

1  This  interdiction  applies  only  to  words  of  ordinary  use.  Technical 
terms  found  in  grammar,  arithmetic,  science,  etc.,  must  be  technically 
denned;  and  such  definitions  should  be  memorized  in  the  higher  grades. 


i28          ELEMENTARY  WORD  STUDY 

time  is  involved  in  the  exercises  here  condemned. 
In  the  first  place,  it  must  be  perfectly  obvious  to 
everyone  that  it  would  be  an  impossible  task  to  re- 
member definitions  thus  abstractly  learned.  To 
prove  this  statement,  let  the  reader  try  to  remem- 
ber the  exact  words  of  any  definition  he  ever  found 
in  the  dictionary.  And  if  the  child  cannot  remem- 
ber definitions,  it  is  manifestly  an  outrage  to  compel 
him  to  copy  them  into  a  book.  If  he  wants  to  refer 
to  a  definition  it  is  easier  to  depend  upon  the 
dictionary,  which  has  all  the  words,  than  to  refer 
to  his  note-book,  which  at  best  can  have  only  a 
few. 

But  even  if  a  child  could  remember  the  words  of 
the  definition,  it  would  not  be  desirable  to  do  so.  The 
"meaning"  of  a  word  must  be  stored  in  terms  of 
experience  or  knowledge,  and  a  definition  is  neither. 
The  function  of  a  word  is  to  convey  an  idea  or  feeling; 
hence  we  do  not  desire  to  establish  a  connection  be- 
tween the  word  and  its  definition;  for  this  is  merely 
associating  one  symbol  with  another.  The  function 
of  the  definition,  so  far  as  it  has  any  value,  is  to  call 
up  some  former  experience  of  the  pupil  and  connect 
it  with  the  new  word.  The  word  and  the  experience 
have  hitherto  been  strangers.  The  definition  merely 
serves  to  establish  an  acquaintance  between  the  two. 
When  the  word  "Ceylon"  is  pronounced,  we  do  not 


METHODS  OF  TEACHING  MEANING  129 

expect  the  pupil  to  think  of  the  words,  "Ceylon  is  an 
island  south  of  British  India";  nor  do  we  want  him 
to  recall  a  yellow  patch  on  the  map  of  Asia.  What- 
ever he  knows  of  Ceylon,  its  people,  houses,  vegeta- 
tion, animals,  etc.,  should  appear  in  consciousness 
when  the  word  is  seen  or  heard.  So  in  teaching  the 
meaning  of  any  other  word,  the  aim  is  to  connect 
some  real  knowledge  or  experience  directly  with  the 
word  symbol. 

(2)  CHILDREN'S  DEFINITIONS  When  a  child 
makes  his  own  definition,  the  process  is  very  different 
from  the  recitation  of  a  memorized  definition.  When 
he  recites  a  definition  someone  has  made  for  him, 
there  may  be  nothing  in  consciousness  except  the 
words  he  has  learned.  When  he  undertakes  to 
construct  an  original  definition,  he  is  not  thinking 
of  abstract  words,  but  is  trying  to  convey  some 
experience  of  his  which  we  call  the  content  of  the 
word.  We  have  already  seen  that  if  there  is  any 
content  in  his  mind,  the  pupil  of  any  age  manages 
to  express  himself  with  reasonable  success.  The 
child's  own  definition  may  therefore  be  taken  as  a 
test  of  his  knowledge  of  a  word.  The  peculiarities 
of  children's  definitions  have  been  carefully  investi- 
gated by  Binet,  Barnes,  Shaw,1  and  others;  and 

1  See  the  author's  paper  on"  Interest "  in  "  Educational  Foundations," 
Vol.  18,  p.  126,  A.  S.  Barnes  &  Co.,  1907. 


i3o          ELEMENTARY  WORD  STUDY 

from  these  studies  the  following  interesting  con- 
clusions are  gathered: 

(a)  At  the  age  of  seven,  children  define  things 
in  the  terms  of  "use";  that  is,  if  asked  what  a  thing 
is  they  tell  what  it  does  or  is  used  for;  as,  "A  knife 
is  to  cut  with." 

(6)  At  the  age  of  eleven,  "use"  is  still  supreme, 
but  "larger  term"  and  "substance"  are  assuming 
importance.  By  "larger  term"  is  meant  referring 
an  object  to  its  genus;  as,  "A  clock  is  a  time-piece." 
By  "substance"  is  meant  what  an  object  is  made  of; 
as,  "A  clock  is  made  of  wood. " 

(c)  At  fifteen,  "larger  term"  is  more  important 
than  "use";  "substance"  and  "structure"  are  get- 
ing  more  and  more  prominent. 

(3)  CHILDREN'S  SENTENCES  In  some  quarters  it 
is  customary  to  test  the  "meaning"  of  words  by 
memorized  definitions  and  the  "use"  by  original 
sentences  made  by  children.  We  have  already 
condemned  the  memorizing  of  definitions.  What 
shall  we  say  of  the  sentence-test  ?  Good  authorities 
may  be  quoted  on  both  sides  of  this  question.  Prof. 
Samuel  T.  Button,  of  Columbia,  speaks  thus:  "The 
pupils  themselves  should  be  required  to  put  into 
suitable  sentences  the  words  that  properly  belong 
to  their  vocabulary  at  each  stage  of  school  life.  We 


METHODS  OF  TEACHING  MEANING  131 

are  seeking  for  the  largest  possible  self-activity."1 
With  this  view  I  agree.  I  can  see  no  valid  objection 
to  the  sentence  method  of  testing  a  pupil's  knowledge 
of  content.  On  the  contrary,  it  is  plain  that  the  use 
of  words  in  the  oral  or  written  discourse  is  the  aim 
of  every  lesson  on  the  meaning  of  words.  The  child, 
therefore,  cannot  begin  using  his  words  too  soon. 
Of  course,  one  must  not  imagine  that  the  pupil  gets 
content  by  writing  sentences.  We  assume  that  he 
has  content;  and  the  construction  of  sentences  is 
merely  a  test  of  the  accuracy  of  his  content,  and 
practice  in  the  proper  use  of  the  word. 

1  "New  York  Teachers'  Monographs,"  November,  1898. 


VIII 

Devices  in  Word  Study 

I  "Trapping" 

All  the  spelling  in  the  writer's  boyhood  days  was 
by  the  oral  method.  Spelling  was  always  the  last 
exercise  on  tne  program.  There  were,  in  our  little 
country  school,  at  least  two  spelling  classes,  an  ele- 
mentary and  an  advanced.  The  entire  school  was 
registered  in  one  or  the  other  of  these  classes.  We 
all  stood  up  in  a  line,  one  end  of  which  was  the  "head, " 
and  the  other  the  "foot."  If  a  pupil  spelled  cor- 
rectly a  word  that  had  been  missed,  he  "trapped" 
all  those  that  had  failed  (i.e.,  passed  them  toward 
the  head  of  the  class).  The  method  of  spelling  was 
to  pronounce  the  word  as  the  teacher  gave  it,  then 
to  spell  and  pronounce  each  syllable  separately,  and, 
finally,  to  put  together  the  syllables  into  the  synthe- 
sized word.  This  process  involved  sight,  when  the 
pupil  studied,  and  hearing  and  the  motor  apparatus 
of  speed,  when  he  recited.  The  muscular  activity 

involved  in  "trapping,"  the  strong  incentive  to  study 
133  ' 


DEVICES  IN  WORD  STUDY  133 

offered  by  a  chance  to  get  to  the  head  of  the  class, 
the  lively  interest  aroused  by  the  contest  —  all  these 
were  elements  of  association  that  aided  the  recall 
of  the  word.     The  method  was  faulty,  however,  in 
one  or  two  particulars.     It   omitted  the  use  of  the  • 
muscular  apparatus  employed  in  writing  and  over- 
looked the  important  fact  that  about  the  only  practi- 
cal use  we  make  of  spelling  is  in  writing  rather  than  < 
speaking. 

2  A  Modern  Substitute  for  "Trapping" 

The  method  of  "trapping"  is  hardly  to  be  recom- 
mended in  classes  where  the  discipline  is  weak, 
because  its  use  is  liable  to  lead  to  disorder.  Nor 
is  it  feasible  in  classes  that  are  very  much  crowded, 
except  as  an  occasional  test.  Therefore,  some 
device  must  be  found  which  is  adapted  to  the  condi- 
tions as  they  exist  in  the  average  class  in  crowded 
city  schools.  It  is  believed  that  the  following  plan 
meets  these  conditions : 

(i)  The  teacher  selects  a  word  that  has  never 
been  taught  or  given  to  the  children.  He  slowly 
writes  it  upon  the  board,  spelling  it  orally  as  he  does 
so.  As  the  children  observe  the  process,  they  have 
the  auditory  image  of  the  oral  spelling,  the  visual 
image  of  the  completed  written  word,  and  the  mus- 


134  ELEMENTARY  WORD  STUDY 

cular  image  of  the  eye  as  it  follows  the  hand  that 
writes   the   word. 

(2)  Next  the  children  write  the  word  into  their 
note-books,  spelling  orally  at  the  same  time.    They 
have  thus  the  auditory  image  of  the  word,  the  mus- 
cular image  of  the  vocal  organs,  and  the  muscular 
image  of  the  hand  that  writes. 

(3)  If  it  is  a  word  whose  meaning  is  also  to  be 
taught,  a  conversation  now  follows  as  to  its  content. 
Its  meaning  is  briefly  illustrated  and  discussed,  but 
not  written  at  the  time.     This  enhances  the  interest 
of  the  whole   process  and   furnishes   an  additional 
association  as  a  clue  for  the  recall  of  the  spelling  of 
the  word. 

(4)  After  four  or  five  words  have  been  treated  in 
this  way,  the  children  are  asked  to  look  at  each  word 
once  more,  and  to  avert  their  eyes  to  see  if  they  have 
imaged  it  perfectly. 

(5)  The  board  is  now  cleaned,  the  books  are  put 
away,  and  the  spelling  papers  are  given  out.    The 
first  word  is  pronounced  and  the  children  write  it, 
laying  down  their  pencils  at  a  given  signal. 

(6)  The  teacher  writes  the  word  on  the  board, 
and  at  the  same  time  a  pupil  orally  spells  it.    Those 
who  have  made  a  mistake  pick  up  their  pencils  and 
correct  the  error.     Those  who  are  right,  remain  in 
position.     If  eight  are  wrong,  the  teacher  writes  the 


DEVICES  IN  WORD  STUDY  135 

figure  "8"  after  the  word  in  his  list.  This  shows 
him,  when  he  comes  to  review,  how  many  children 
have  missed  that  word.  By  and  by,  some  words  in 
the  list  will  thus  have  a  row  of  figures  written  after 
them.  He  keeps  on  reviewing  until  each  row  of 
figures  is  reduced  to  zero.  Then  he  stops.  There 
is  no  use  in  wasting  time  on  a  word  that  every  pupil 
can  spell. 

(7)  Each  word  is  treated  similarly.  When  the 
spelling  is  done  the  papers  are  collected  and  filed  or 
thrown  away.  The  teacher  need  spend  no  further 
time  on  corrections.  Each  pupil's  degree  of  success 
is  already  recorded  on  his  own  paper,  and  the  success 
of  the  class  is  shown  by  the  figures  after  the  words 
in  the  teacher's  note-books. 

The  above  device  is  offered,  not  as  a  panacea  for 
all  the  spelling  evils,  but  as  a  modern  substitute  for 
"trapping."  A  teacher  may  try  the  plan  under 
unfavorable  conditions  of  discipline  or  grade,  and 
pronounce  it  futile  or  foolish.  I  have  no  quarrel 
with  him.  It  certainly  involves  a  correct  principle; 
if  he  can  get  better  results  by  embodying  the  prin- 
ciple in  some  other  method,  by  all  means  let  him  do 
it.  I  am  inclined  to  think  that  for  the  higher  grades 
it  does  too  much  for  the  pupil.  Children  need  the 
discipline  that  comes  from  book  mastery.  In  the 
upper  grades  it  may  be  better  simply  to  set  for  the 


136  ELEMENTARY  WORD  STUDY 

pupil  the  task  of  learning  so  many  words.  But  in 
that  case  the  child  would  probably  be  helped  by 
some  such  device  as  that  herewith  presented. 

3    Spelling  in  1815 

"Each  pupil  has  a  blank  book,  in  which  the  words 
spelled  are  written  with  pen  and  ink.  I  use  Wor- 
cester's dictionary,  which  I  go  through  regularly, 
from  beginning  to  end.  .  .  .  With  the  lower 
class  my  method  was  to  write  the  words  to  be  spelled 
on  the  blackboard;  a  few  minutes  were  allowed  the 
class  to  study  them;  the  rules  of  spelling  were  given 
and  explained  whenever  they  were  applicable;  if 
there  were  any  words  whose  meaning  was  not  under- 
stood, they  were  explained;  and  I  stated  what  I  knew 
of  the  derivation  and  history  of  all  interesting  words ; 
the  words  were  then  pronounced,  first  by  the  teacher, 
and  then  by  the  scholar."1 

1^ 

4    Names  of  Common  Things 

A  high  degree  of  interest  can  be  created  among 
children  by  giving  them  lessons  in  which  they  are 
required  to  spell  the  names,  qualities,  actions,  etc., 
of  common  things,  such  as  an  object  in  the  school - 

1  Christopher  A.  Green:  "Methods of  Teaching  Spelling. "  American 
Institute  of  Instruction  Lectures,  1851,  p.  161. 


DEVICES  IN  WORD  STUDY  137 

room,  articles  of  furniture,  articles  of  wearing  ap- 
parel, kinds  of  food,  things  bought  at  stores,  things 
taken  to  market,  trees,  flowers,  vessels,  vehicles, 
men,  women,  etc.1 

5    "Logomachy"1 

This  word  means  "word-fight."  The  device  con- 
sists in  trying  to  make  as  many  words  as  possible 
out  of  letters  printed  on  separate  pieces  of  card- 
board, which  are  distributed  to  the  players.  The 
play  necessitates  correct  spelling  and  frequent  re- 
course to  the  dictionary;  it  arouses  emulation,  and 
fixes  eye-images  of  words  in  the  memory. 

6    Calling  Attention  to  Parts  Liable  to  be  Mistaken3 

The  feature  of  this  book  to  which  attention  is 
particularly  invited,  and  in  which  it  differs  from  any 
book  with  which  the  writer  is  acquainted,  is  its 
classification  of  words  upon  the  basis  of  form,  with 
that  part  of  the  word  which  is  likely  to  be  mistaken 
as  the  form  element. 

Illustration:  Sound  a. 

Equivalents  ay,  ai,  e,  ea,  ee,  eigh,  et,  ey. 

1  Wickersham:  "  Methods  of  Instruction. "     Lippincott,  1866. 
1  Diamond's  "The  Rational  Speller. "  Macmillan,  1901. 


138  ELEMENTARY  WORD  STUDY 


TV 

V 

VI 

VII 

clay 

weigh 

prairie 

attache 

dray 

neigh 

dairy 

cafe 

play 

sleigh 

cure 

stray 

neighbor 

vary 

employe 

etc. 

obey 

wary 

protege 

prey 

convey 

warily 

resume 

they 

survey 

variable 

vise 

whey          daily  yea  matinee 

The  part  printed  in  italics  may  be  written  or 
printed  in  colored  chalk  on  the  blackboard. 

7    Drill  on  Words  Often  Mispronounced  ; 

Take  as  many  of  the  following  or  similar  words 
as  you  desire  for  one  exercise,  write  them  upon  the 
board,  and  in  a  parallel  column  write  the  words 
again,  indicating  the  correct  pronunciation.  Allow 
each  pupil  sufficient  time  to  study  and  practice  the 
proper  pronunciation  —  a  half-day  at  least  —  after 
which  erase  the  column  in  which  the  proper  pronun- 
ciation is  marked,  and  test  the  pupil's  ability  to  pro- 
nounce correctly  each  word  in  the  list:  museum, 
lyceum,  precedent,  allopathic,  homeopathic,  allo- 
pathy, homeopathy,  obligatory,  combatant,  indis- 

1  Shaw  &  Donnell:  "  School  Devices,"  p.  83.     A.  S.  Barnes  &  Co. 


DEVICES  IN  WORD  STUDY  139 

putable,  apparatus,  covetous,  iodine,  prelude,  ex- 
quisite, itinerant,  impetus,  architect,  condemning, 
process,  Juliet,  greasy,  interesting,  allies,  quinine, 
gallows,  finance,  mischievous,  Khedive,  condolence, 
leisure,  extant,  fatigue,  bronchitis,  telegraphy,  pho- 
tography, inquiry,  Italian,  bade,  acclimated,  extol, 
franchise,  lamentable,  patron,  Pall  Mall,  abdomen, 
association,  pronunciation,  bellows,  livelong,  Arab. 

8    Spelling 

Dictation   as   a   Test.1     (The   Fifth   Herbartian 
Step). 

(i)    How  THE  EXERCISE  is  CONDUCTED 

(a)  At  least  one  child  writes  on  the  blackboard, 
while  the  rest  write  on  paper. 

(b)  The  number  of  words  dictated  consecutively 
depends  upon  the  mental  capacity  of  the  child  and 
upon  the  nature  of  the  selection. 

(c)  Only  groups  of  related  words  are  dictated. 

(d)  The  speed  of  the  dictation  is  limited  by  the 
ability  of  the  majority  of  the  class  to  take  down  the 
exercise  verbatim. 

(e)  No  repetition  is  permissible  unless  it  is  de- 
manded by  the  content  of  the  selection. 

1  From  Cronson's  "Methods  in  Elementary  School  Studies,"  Mac- 
raiUan,  1906.    This  device  is  quoted  with  the  permission  of  the  publishers. 


i4o  ELEMENTARY  WORD  STUDY 

(2)    METHOD  OF  CORRECTION 

(a)  Individual  children  are  called  upon  to  read 
their  written  exercises,  the  rest  meanwhile  inserting 
omissions. 

(b)  The  blackboard  exercise  as  "proof-sheet": 
the  attention  is  directed  first  to  the  paragraphs  as 
wholes,  then  to  the  separate  sentences  as  wholes, 
and  lastly  to  the  elements  of  each  sentence. 

(c)  Classes  that  are  supplied  with  dictionaries 
should  use  these  to  look  up  the  correction  of  mis- 
spelled words  and  the  meanings  of  unknown  words. 

(d)  Correction  is  made  by  passing  a  line  through 
the  error,  re-writing  correctly  above  the  word,  and  in 
the  case  of  a  misspelled  word,  writing  it  also  below 
the  exercise. 

GENERAL  DIRECTIONS 

(a)  Time  must  be  assigned  for  the  study  of  the 
corrected  forms,  and  for  recitation  by  several  pupils. 

(b)  Each   sheet   of   paper   should   contain   two 
original  dictations;  if  re-dictation  is  deemed  advis- 
able, it  should  be  taken  on  a  separate  sheet. 

(c)  An  oral  review  of  exercises  should  be  had  at 
least  once  a  month,  when  children  are  given  an 
opportunity    to    restudy    previous    corrections.    A 
recitation  should  follow. 


DEVICES  IN  WORD  STUDY  141 

MODEL  LESSON  * 

The  teacher  dictated  the  following  in  groups  of 
words  included  between  the  vertical  lines : 

As  the  fair  happened  on  the  following  day,  |  I  had 
intentions  of  going  myself.] 

"No,  my  dear,"  said  my  wife,  |  "our  son  Moses  is 
a  discreet  boy,  and  can  buy  and  sell  to  very  good 
advantage."  j 

THE  "PROOF-SHEET" 
As  the  fair  happened  on  the  following  day,  I  had 

intentions  f 

intensions  of  going  myself.     "No,  my  dear,  said  my 

"  discreet  , 

wife,  our  son  Moses  is  a  discret  boy  and  can  buy 

advantage 

and  sell  to  very  good  advantag. " 

prudence 

As  I  also  had  a  good  opinion  of  my  son's  prudense, 
I  was  willing  enough  to  trust  the  business  with  him. 

1  Intentions          5    discreet 

2  If  6     , 

3  7    advantage 

4  "  8    prudence 

1  The  main  aim  of  the  lesson  was  to  test  the  children' s  knowledge  of 
paragraphs  and  quotation  marks. 


142  ELEMENTARY  WORD  STUDY 

9   Meaning 

"The  method  of  Mr.  Alcott,  in  a  school  composed 
chiefly  of  young  children,  was  to  converse  with  his 
scholars  on  the  meaning  of  every  word  spelled;  so 
as  to  create  an  interest  in  it,  and  make  them  perceive 
its  connection  and  use.  They  wrote  these  words 
from  their  spelling  book,  until  they  knew  them,  and 
then  spelled  them  orally  from  dictation.  It  seems 
to  me  that  such  a  method,  applied  by  one  competent, 
is  nearly  perfect  as  far  as  it  goes.  The  blackboard 
was  then  cleaned,  the  words  were  put  out  to  the  class 
and  written  by  them  in  their  books.  The  lesson 
was  then  written  over  again  on  the  blackboard,  the 
pupils  compared  their  work  with  that  on  the  black- 
board, marking  mistakes  with  a  cross,  and  the  teacher 
called  for  and  recorded  the  number  of  mistakes 
which  each  had  made.  The  teacher  afterwards 
corrected  the  books,  examined  them,  and  wrote, 
in  a  book  kept  for  that  purpose,  all  the  words  which 
were  misspelled;  he  began  his  next  day's  lesson 
with  these  words,  and  continued  to  do  so  until  every 
word  had  been  spelled  correctly  by  every  member  of 
the  class.  The  whole  process  takes  the  pupil  twenty 
minutes  each  day."1 

1  Christopher  A.  Green:    "  Methods  of  Teaching  Spelling, "  American 
Institute  of  Instruction  Lectures,  1851,  p.  i8z. 


DEVICES  IN  WORD  STUDY  143 

10  Spelling  by  Dictation 

"For  four  or  five  years,  spelling  has  been  taught 
from  2 A  to  4A,  solely  by  dictation.  Tests  have  been 
made  in  two  4A  classes.  In  each  one,  the  children 
were  placed  in  two  sections:  one  composed  of  those 
who  had  been  taught  to  spell  by  dictation  for  a  year 
or  more;  the  other  of  those  who  had  been  taught 
to  spell  by  dictation  for  less  than  a  year.  The  aver- 
age result  of  the  former  group  was  90  %,  while  in  the 
case  of  the  latter  group,  the  result  was  only  80%. 
The  method  of  dictation  gives  practice  in  such  words 
as  there,  which,  very,  those,  etc.  When  we  write, 
we  write  in  sentences  and  there  seems  to  be  no  need 
for  children  to  write  words  in  columns.  It  is  an 
unnatural  arrangement  and  does  not  give  sufficient 
practice  in  the  spelling  of  small  words.  It  would 
be  as  sensible  to  teach  children  to  read  columns  of 
words  daily,  and  have  readers  in  their  hands  but 
once  a  week,  as  it  is  to  teach  children  to  spell  columns 
of  words,  and  conduct  dictation  but  once  a  week. "  i 

1 1    Meaning  and  Use 

The  method  pursued  by  the  writer  has  been  to 
supply  the  children  with  the  necessary  definitions  and 
illustrative  sentences.  Briefly  the  method  has  been 
as  follows: 

1  Kate  Van  Wagenen. 


144  ELEMENTARY  WORD  STUDY 

After  the  reading  lessons  for  the  following  week 
have  been  chosen  by  the  teacher,  a  selection  is  made 
of  the  words  that  require  special  study.  These 
form  the  list  of  meaning  and  use  words  for  the  week. 
The  next  step  is  to  compose  a  simple  but  compre- 
hensive definition  of  each  word.  This  done,  the 
illustrative  sentence  is  next  in  order.  These  two 
should  give  the  pupil  a  good  working  knowledge  of 
each  word.  With  the  aid  of  a  hektograph  the  teacher 
has  been  able  to  furnish  the  pupils  on  each  Monday 
morning  of  the  term  a  list  of  the  words  for  the  week, 
together  with  definitions  and  illustrative  sentences. 
Thus  week  after  week  a  word  book  is  built  up 
which  is  always  at  the  service  of  the  pupils. 

The  illustrative  sentences  have  proved  very  valu- 
able, not  only  because  they  have  thrown  additional 
light  upon  the  meanings  of  words,  but  also  for  the 
assistance  they  have  given  the  pupils  as  guides  in 
the  construction  of  original  sentences.  With  them  at 
his  command  he  seldom  makes  the  foolish  blunders 
so  common  in  this  subject.  If  we  want  children  to 
furnish  sentences  it  is  only  fair  that  we  should  furnish 
them  with  a  model.  We  do  it  in  composition;  why 
not  hi  the  study  of  words  ? 

The  relation  of  the  reading  lesson  to  word  study 
as  a  result  of  the  above  outlined  method  is  worthy 
of  a  few  words.  The  teacher  has  been  careful  to 


DEVICES  IN  WORD  STUDY  145 

arrange  the  word  list  so  that  words  shall  come  up 
for  consideration  before  the  reading  lesson  from 
which  they  were  chosen  and  on  the  same  day.  The 
pupils  have  not  been  told  that  the  words  were  chosen 
from  the  reading  lesson,  and  for  two  reasons.  In 
the  first  place,  it  is  a  great  delight  to  the  pupils  to 
discover  the  words  they  have  been  discussing  and 
using  earlier  in  the  day.  Again,  the  apparent  dis- 
covery serves  to  indicate  that  these  words  are  words 
in  common  use.  Consequently  the  pupil  is  on  the 
look-out  to  find  the  same  word  in  other  quarters. 
Thus  there  is  aroused  a  genuine  interest  in  the  study 
of  words,  and  what  would  seem  to  be  a  dry  and 
uninteresting  topic  has  had  "breathed  into  it  the 
breath  of  life."  The  reading  lesson,  too,  has  been 
the  gainer,  for  it  has  been  cleared  of  many  of  its 
difficulties,  and  more  time  is  left  for  actual  reading. 

SPECIMEN  LIST 

(1)  Melancholy  —  Extremely   sad   and   down- 
hearted.    "A  melancholy  story"    -"His   mother's 
death  made  him  melancholy. "     "A  melancholy  life. " 

(2)  Phenomenon  —  (a)    An  unusual   happening 
or  fact.     "A  child    born  with   six   toes   is   a   phe- 
nomenon."   "Samson   had   phenomenal   strength." 
(b)    Something  causing  surprise  or  wonder.     "Me- 
teors are  natural  phenomena." 


146  ELEMENTARY  WORD  STUDY 

(3)  Irresolution  —  Lack  or  want  of  firmness  of 
purpose.     Lack  of  the  power  of  deciding  what  to  do. 
"  Irresolution  during  a  fire  may  cause  the  loss  of  many' 
lives. "   "  The  defeat  was  caused  by  the  General's  irres- 
olution. "    "An  irresolute  man  lacks  the  nerve  to  act/' 

(4)  Relinquish  —  To  give  up  using  or  having. 
"He  relinquished  the  stolen  goods."    "He  relin- 
quished his  hold  on  the  oar  and  sank." 

(5)  Surplus  —  That  which  remains  beyond  what 
has  been    used  or    needed.     "Surplus  wealth" 
"After  paying  his  debts  there  was  a  surplus." 

(6)  Incredulous  —  Not     disposed     to     believe. 
"When  the  clerk  said  that  the  money  had  been 
stolen,  his  employer  was  incredulous." 

(7)  A ppropriate — Suitable  for  the  purpose  or  occa- 
sion.    "The  General  was  buried  with  appropriate 
honors,    and   the    President   made   an   appropriate 
speech. " 

(8)  Embarrass  —  To    put    in    a    confused    and 
disturbed  state  of  mind.    * '  He  was  much  embarrassed 
when  called  upon  for  a  speech."     "His  embarrass- 
ment caused  him  to  stutter  and  stammer. " 

(9)  Opportunity  —  A   favorable   chance.    A   fit 
or  convenient   time.     "The   government   furnishes 
us  all  with  an  opportunity  to  learn."     "He  had  an 
opportunity  to  make  money. "     "It  was  the  opportu- 
nity he  was  looking  for." 


DEVICES  IN  WORD  STUDY  147 

(10)  Eternity  —  (a)  Endless  time.  "  Washing- 
ton's fame  will  live  through  eternity."  (b)  Un- 
ending life  beyond  the  present.  "In  a  moment  it 
exploded  and  fifty  lives  were  hurled  into  eternity." 

(n)  Indulge --To  give  in  (usually  unwisely) 
to  the  wishes  or  desires  of  oneself  or  another.  "To 
indulge  a  child."  "To  indulge  in  strong  drink." 
"Indulgence  in  opium." 

(12)  Maintain  —  (a)    To  support.     Provide  for. 
"To   maintain   a   family."     "Orphan  asylums  are 
maintained  by  charity."     (b)    To  support  by  argu- 
ment.    "England  maintained  her  right  to  tax  the 
colonists." 

(13)  Superior  —  (a)    Of  higher  rank.     More  ex- 
cellent.   Finer   or    better   than    the    others.     "He 
saluted  his  superior  officer."    "The  enemy  were 
superior  in  number."    "A  superior  article."     (b) 
A   person   higher   in   rank   than  another  or  others. 
"The  General  is  the  superior  of  the  Colonel."    "He 
was  his  superior  in  knowledge." 

(14)  Inferior  —  (Opposite  of  superior.) 

(15)  Menace  —  (a)    To  threaten  with  evil.     "He 
menaced   his   enemy  with  death."     (b)     Anything 
that  threatens  with  evil.     "He  laughed  at  his  enemy's 
menace. "     "The  swamp  was  a  menace  to  the  health 
of  the  people  living  nearby." 

-  A  Brooklyn  Principal 


IX 

Summary  of  Word  Study 
I  Word  Analysis  and  Synthesis 

The  mere  memorizing  of  the  meanings  of  prefixes, 
suffixes,  and  stems  is  a  dull  and  profitless  perform- 
ance. Drill  in  the  use  of  these  elements  is  absolutely 
essential  if  we  hope  to  interest  the  pupil  permanently 
in  the  study  of  words.  Suppose  we  assume  that  in- 
terest, rather  than  knowledge,  is  our  goal  in  this 
form  of  word  study.  This  will  be  a  sensitive  test  of 
the  value  of  our  method. 

As  soon  as  the  interest  flags,  we  shall  know  that 
something  has  gone  wrong  in  our  teaching.  We 
shall  be  constantly  on  the  lookout  for  interesting 
material  and  helpful  devices.  In  other  words,  the 
beginning  of  wisdom  here  is  interest  on  the  teacher's 
part.  Seek  ye  first  this  chief  good,  and  all  other 
things  shall  be  added  unto  you. 

Create  in  the  pupil  a  need  for  the  new  knowledge, 
and  he  will  take  pains  to  satisfy  his  desire.  The 

reading  of  such  books  as  "Trench  on  the  Study  of 
148 


SUMMARY  OF  WORD  STUDY          149 

Words"  and  Richard  Grant  White's  "Words  and 
Their  Uses"  is  pretty  sure  to  beget  interest  on  the 
teacher's  part  and  to  open  up  a  rich  mine  of  resources 
for  classroom  use. 

(1)  ANALYSIS     Suppose  we  take  the  word  Capi- 
tal as  used  in  geography.    We  find  that  the  word  is 
made  from  caput,  the  head,  and  at,  pertaining  to. 
The  word  means  literally,  pertaining  to  the  head. 
The  head  is  the  seat  of  mental  power,  the  chief  part 
of  the  body;  hence  the  usual  applications  of  the  word 
are  based  on  this  idea  of  chief  power  or  authority. 
Thus,  we  have  capital  city,  capital  letter,  capital  pun- 
ishment, capital  play,  capital  in  business,  making 
capital  of  the  candidate's  bad  record. 

Lessons  in  word  analysis  may  be  assigned  in  the 
following  form : 

BENEFICENT 

The  pupil  is  expected  to  find  the  parts  of  which  the 
word  is  composed  and  to  infer  the  literal  meaning  of 
the  compound.  He  may  then  find  figurative  applica- 
tions of  the  word  and  illustrate  each  use  by  an  appro- 
priate sentence  of  his  own  construction  or  selection. 

(2)  SYNTHESIS    Reversing  the  process,  we  may 
have  an  exercise  like  the  following: 

IN 

ALIEN 
ABLE 


ISO  ELEMENTARY  WORD  STUDY 

The  pupil  will  tell  the  meaning  of  the  parts  and 
form  the  compound,  then  infer  the  literal  meaning  of 
the  word,  and  proceed  from  this  to  the  metaphorical 
uses.  The  study  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence 
in  the  higher  grades  furnishes  an  occasion  for  the  study 
of  this  word. 

2  Choice  of  Words 

The  items  suggested  in  the  summary  on  pages 
162-171,  under  the  head  of  "Choice  of  Words,"  are 
not  meant  to  be  exhaustive  or  mandatory.  The  topic 
is  brought  forward  for  the  sole  purpose  of  reminding 
the  teacher  that  something  of  the  sort  must  be  done 
if  we  expect  the  speech  of  children  to  rise  above  the 
commonplace  and  to  become  adequate  for  the  cor- 
rect and  forceful  expression  of  thought  and  feeling. 

During  a  recent  examination  of  a  package  of  com- 
positions written  by  seventh-grade  children,  the 
writer  selected  at  random  for  careful  reading  an 
essay  which  had  been  written  by  a  girl  of  thirteen. 
The  paper  contained  a  description  of  natural  scenery. 
The  child  had  used  the  word  "lovely"  three  times 
on  a  single  page  in  referring  to  a  landscape,  and  had 
employed  "nice"  to  describe  the  sky.  These  im- 
portant words  had  been  passed  by  the  teacher  without 
correction  or  comment.  He  had  not  felt  the  need  of 
guiding  children  in  the  choice  of  words. 


SUMMARY  OF  WORD  STUDY          151 

Probably  the  best  way  to  suggest  to  young  writers 
the  importance  of  using  the  right  word  is  to  present 
correct  models.  The  class  referred  to  above  would 
have  profited  by  the  careful  study  of  a  passage  like 
the  following: 

"  A  few  amber  clouds  floated  in  the  sky,  without  a  breath  of  air  to 
move  them.  The  horizon  was  of  a  fine,  golden  tint,  changing 
gradually  into  a  pure  apple-green,  and  from  that  into  the  deep-blue 
of  the  midheaven." ' 

The  right  word  is  the  specific  word,  rather  than  the 
general.  The  specific  word  in  description  or  narra- 
tive is  usually  the  concrete  word.  Witness  the  follow- 
ing account  of  the  meeting  of  Abraham's  servant 
with  Rebekah  (Genesis  xxiv): 

"  And  he  made  his  camels  to  kneel  down  without  the  city  by  a  well 
of  water  at  the  time  of  the  evening,  even  the  time  when  women  go 
out  to  draw  water.  And  she  said,  Drink  my  lord;  and  she  hasted 
and  let  down  her  pitcher  upon  her  hand,  and  gave  him  drink." 

For  further  suggestions  on  the  right  use  of  words 
see  the  author's  "Composition  in  the  Elementary 
School"  (A.  S.  Barnes  &  Co.),  pp.  41,  42. 

1    Washington  Irving. 


15* 


3  Diacritical  Marks 

The  names  of  marks  used  should  be  taught  in  each 
grade.  Not  all  the  marks  used  by  Webster  are  given 
in  the  summary  on  pages  162-171.  Grades  6 A-8B 
should  teach  such  additional  marks  as  an  intelligent 
use  of  the  dictionary  may  require. 

There  are  two  ways  of  conducting  drills  in  dia- 
critics. In  one,  the  teacher  writes  or  pronounces  a 
word  and  the  pupil  inserts  the  necessary  marks  to 
indicate  the  pronunciation.  In  the  other,  the  teacher 
marks  an  unfamiliar  or  difficult  word  and  the  pupil 
pronounces  the  same  in  accordance  with  the  marking. 
When  a  pupil  in  his  reading  mispronounces  a  word, 
the  latter  method  should  usually  be  employed.  The 
word  arctic  is  mispronounced  by  probably  half  the 
children  in  the  elementary  schools.  It  is  one  of  the 
clearest  evidences  of  the  general  neglect  of  phonics 
as  applied  to  pronunciation. 

4  Use  of  Dictionary 

Drills  in  the  correct  and  rapid  use  of  the  dictionary 
as  an  authority  on  the  meaning  and  pronunciation  of 
words  should  be  conducted  in  the  sixth,  seventh,  and 
eighth  years.  Many  devices  may  be  employed  to 
stimulate  interest.  Lessons  may  be  organized  as 


SUMMARY  OF  WORD  STUDY          153 

games,  in  which  the  test  is  to  find  a  given  word  in  the 
shortest  time,  or  to  find  the  largest  number  of  words 
in  a  given  time.  Pupils  should  have  individual  dic- 
tionaries from  the  beginning  of  the  sixth  year;  and 
they  should  early  acquire  the  dictionary  habit. 


154  ELEMENTARY  WORD  STUDY 


5    Bibliography 

1  The  Hygiene  and  Psychology  of  Spelling.    Wm.  H.  Burnham, 

Pedagogical  Seminary,  Vol.  13,  p.  474. 

2  Method  in  Education,  by  R.  N.  Roark.    American  Book  Com- 

pany, 1899. 

3  Is  Spelling  a  Lost  Art  ?    By  Wm.  E.  Mead,  Educational  Review, 

Vol.  19,  p.  49- 

4  Constitutional  Bad  Spellers.    Adelaide  E.  Wyckoff,  Pedagogical 

Seminary,  Vol.  2,  p.  448. 

5  Dr.  F.  W.  Smedley:  Report  of  the  Department  of  Child  Study 

and  Pedagogic  Investigation,  Chicago  Public  Schools.  Child 
Study  Report,  No.  3. 

6  Spelling:  Mr.  H.  E.  Kratz:  "Studies  and  Observations  in  the 

School-Room."  Educational  Publishing  Company,  Boston, 
1907. 

7  Edward  R.   Shaw  on  Spelling:  Three  Studies  in  Education. 

E.  L.  Kellogg  &  Co.,  New  York,  1899  (pamphlet). 

8  Experiments  on  Spelling:  Miss  E.  K.  Carmen,  Teachers  College 

Record,  p.  87.  Columbia  University  Press,  New  York,  May, 
1910.  For  same  study,  see  Journal  of  Pedagogy,  October, 
1900. 

9  Spelling  in  the  Elementary  School,  by  Oliver  B.  Cornman.    Ginn 

&  Company,  Boston,  1902.  The  most  noteworthy  scientific 
investigation  of  spelling  made  in  this  country  to  date. 

10  Individual  Differences  hi  Spelling.     "The  Principles  of  Teach- 

ing, "  by  E.  L.  Thomdyke.    A.  G.  Seiler,  New  York,  1906. 

11  Bagley:  The  Educative  Process,  p.  123.    Macmillan,  1905.    The 

Spelling  Drill. 

12  E.  N.  Kendall:  Report  on  Spelling  hi  New  Haven  Schools.    Edu- 

cational Review,  Vol.  14,  p.  409. 

13  Judd:  Genetic  Psychology  for  Teachers,  p.  262.    Appleton,  New 

York,  1903.    See  "Spelling"  in  Index. 


SUMMARY  OF  WORD  STUDY          155 

14  English  Lessons  for  English  People.    Edwin  A.  Abbott  and 

J.  R.  Seeley,  London,  1883.     (On  Definition.) 

15  Dexter  &  Garlick's  Psychology  in  the  Schoolroom.    Longmans, 

1898.     (On  Definition,  p.  148.) 

1 6  Bain's   Education  as  a   Science.    Chapter  on   "Our  Mother 

Tongue, "  for  Meaning  of  Words. 

17  Hall's  Contents  of  Children's  Minds.    E.  L.  Kellogg   &  Co., 

1893.    Meaning  of  Words. 

18  "How    Words    Get    Content":  Studies    in    Education.    Earl 

Barnes,  Vol.  2,  p.  43. 

19  "How  Words   Get   Meaning."   Chambers,  Pedagogical  Sem- 

inary, Vol.  u,  p.  30. 

20  On  Meaning  and  Use  of  Words.     Albert  Shiels,  School  Work, 

New  York,  Vol.  i,  p.  35. 

21  Children's  Definitions,  by  Joseph  S.  Taylor,  Educational  Foun- 

dations.   Vol.  18,  p.  126.     A.  S.  Barnes  &  Co.,  New  York. 

22  Dictation   Day  by  Day.     Kate  Van  Wagenen.     Ma  cm  il  Ian, 

New  York,  1909. 


156 


ELEMENTARY  WORD  STUDY 


6     Alphabetical    List  of    Prefixes,  Suffixes,   and  Stems 
for  Reference 

(i)  PREFIXES 

a  (Eng. )  =  at;  in;  on;  or  adds      be    (Eng. )   =    by;  about;  over; 


force. 
a  (Lat.  )  See  ab  or  ad. 


*  (Gr-  )  1  =  ^thout;  not, 
an         ) 

/row. 


ab  (Lat.  ) 
abs 


ad  (Lat.) 

a 

ac 

•I 

•I 

am 

»P 
ar 
at 

at 

amto  (Lat.)  ~\ 

amb  >  =  around. 

am  j 

amphi  (Gr. )  =both;  around. 


to  make;  or  adds  force. 

bi  (Lat. )  ) 

. .  '  >  =  two;  twice. 

cata  (Gr. )  I 

cat  j  -  dmvn' 

circum  (Lat. )  ) 

circu  j  -  around' 

con  (Lat. )  ^ 

cum 

co  !  =    with;   together; 

col  wholly* 

com 

cor 

contra  (Lat.)  1 

contro  >  =  against. 

counter  ) 

de  (Lat. )  =  down. 

dia  (Gr.)  =  through. 

dis  (Lat. )  ^ 

..  f  =   apart;  not;  op- 

rti  v  * 

,.,  (  posile  act.1 


dis  (Gr. )  f        _.       fa 
ana  (Gr. )  =  up;  back;  through,      di  {  =  ^"^  two' 


ant«  (Lat.  )  =  before. 


dys  (Gr. )  =  bad;  ill. 


anti(Lat.))  •    ,  •,        «  (Lat.Gr.) 

'  V  =  against;  opposite.          v 

(Gr.))  ef 

'j  =  /rom. 


apo 
*P 


1  The  last  letter  of  the  prefix  is  often  modified  by  the  first  letter  of  the 
root.  Thus,  the  word  affix  consists  of  ad  and  fix ;  but  the  d  in  ad  be- 
comes/. 


SUMMARY  OF  WORD  STVDV 


en  &*%•}  \=in;on;tomake. 
6m             j 

poly  (Gr.  )  =  w<wy. 
post  (Lat.)  =  a/ter. 

en  (Gr.  )  1        . 
em'       'J-  «•;«•• 

pre  (Lat.  )  =  fo/ore. 

epi  (Gr.  )  ) 

pur             j           ' 

ep              j  =  up™- 

pro  (Gr.  )  =  fee/ore. 

en  (Gr.)  ) 

'  \  =  well;  good. 

J 

re  (Lat.  )  =  back  or  again. 
retro  (Lat.  )  =  backward. 

extra  (Lat.)  =  beyond. 

se  (Lat.  )  =  aside. 

for  (Eng.  )  =  not;  from. 

semi  (Lat.)  =  half. 

fore  (Eng.)  =  before. 

sine  (Lat.  )  =  without. 

hyper  (Gr.  )  =  over;  beyond. 

sub  (Lat.)' 

hypo  (Gr.  )  =  under. 

sue 

in  (Lat.n 
..                  =  in;  on. 

raf                         , 
•  =  under.1 

V 

Mf 

im 

=r    not. 

rap 

»               J 

BUS 

inter  (Lat.)  =  between. 

subter  (Lat.)  =  under. 

intro  (Lat.)  =  within. 

mete  (Gr.)  )       , 
)•  =  beyond;  change. 

super  (Lat.)  ) 
gur                 |  =  aftwe;  ww. 

syn  (Gr.))    ' 

mis  (Eng.)  =  wrong;    wrongly. 
mono  (Gr.  )  =  a/one. 

sy 

'.               >  =  with;  together. 

non  (Lat.)  =  not. 

sym            J 

ob  (Lat.)) 

to  (Eng.  )  =  the;  this. 

!    =  in  front;  in  the 
.                          way;  against.1 

OI 

trans  (Lat.  )  ")  =   <n*y;  beyond; 
tra                  j            through. 
tri  (Lat.,Gr.  )  =  three;  thrice. 

op             J 

ultra  (Lat.)  =  beyond. 

off  (Eng.)  =  from. 

un  (Eng.  )  =  wo/  (  i«  adjectives 

out  (Eng.)  =  beyond. 

and  nouns  ). 

over  (Eng.)  =  above. 

un   (Eng.)  =   opposite  act   (in 

para  (Gr.  )  )  =   side  by  side; 

verbs.  ) 

par               j           unlike. 

under  (Eng.  )  =  beneath. 

per  (Lat.)  =  through;    thor- 

vice (Lat.  )  =  instead  of. 

oughly;  by. 

with  (Eng.  )  =  against;  from. 

1  See  note  on  ad. 


158 


ELEMENTARY  WORD  STUDY 


(2)    SUFFIXES 


aceous 
acious 


,.    .  , 
(Lat.) 

' 


able(Lat.)  ~\  =  able  to  be;  fit  to 
ible  r       be;  causing  (used 

ble  )       to  form  adj.) 

ac  (Gr.  )  =  pertaining  to  (adj.) 

=    having   the 

quality  of:  lull 

,   *'   ' 
of  (ad].). 

acy  (lat.  )  =  state  or  quality  of 

being  (nouns  ). 
age   (French)  =  state  0}  being; 

act  of;  that  which;  a  collec- 

tion of  (nouns). 
al    (Lat.)  =  pertaining  to;  the 

act  of  (adj.;  n.  ). 
an  (Lat.  )  =  pertaining  to;  one 

•who  (adj.;n.  ). 

ance  (Lat.  )\  =  state  of   being; 
ancy  j  act  of  (n.  ). 

ant  (Lat.  )  =  See  ent. 
ar  (Lat.  )  =  pertaining  to  (adj.  ). 
ar  (n  ).    See  er  (n.  ). 
ard  (Eng.  )  <w«  u>/t0  (».  ). 
ary  (Lat.)  =  belonging  to;  one 

who;  place  where  (adj.;  n.  ). 
ate  (Lat.  )  =  one  who;  to  make; 

having  (adj.;  n.;  verb). 
ble.    See  able. 


cule 


=  little  (n.). 


dom  (Eng.)  =  state  of    being; 

domain  of  (n. ). 
ed  (Eng. )  =  past  tense  and  past 

participle  (v.). 
ee  (Fr. )  =  one  to  whom  (n. ). 

'.V<Fr)l  — "toOO- 


en  (Eng.  )  —  made  of;  to  make; 
past  participle;  little    (adj.; 


. 

.  )  )  =  state  of   being 
j  (n.  ). 


ence  (Lat. 

ency 

ent  (Lat . )  =  one  who  or  that  which; 
being  or  ing  (adj.;  n. ). 

er  (Eng.)  =  one  who  or  that 
which  (n.). 

er  (Eng.)  =  more  =  compara- 
tive degree  (adj.). 

erv  CF  1  )  =  P^acewnfre>  statf 
\°l  bdKg;  collection; 
)  art  of  (n. ). 

escence  (Lat.)  =  state  of  be- 
coming (n.). 

escent  (Lat. )  =  becoming  (adj. ) 

ess  (Fr. )  =  female  (n. ). 

eit  (Eng. )  =  most,  superlative 
degree  (adj. ). 

ette  (Fr. )  =  little  (n. ). 

ful  (Eng. )  =  full  of;  causing 
(adj.). 

fy  (Lat. )  =  to  make  (v. ). 

hood  (Eng.  =  state  or  quality  of 
being  (n. ). 

ible.     See  able. 


r  muut,  u/;  one  who 
3  (adj.). 

ics  (Gr. )  I          .          .  ,    , 
'  \  =  science  of  (n. ) 

id  (Lat. )  =  quality;  pertaining 
to  (adj. ). 

ie  (Eng.)  ]       ,.,„   ,    , 
1  —  Itttle  (n. ). 


SUMMARY  OF  WORD  STUDY 


159 


ier.    See  eer. 

ile  (Lat. )  =  able  to  be;  relating 

to  (adj.). 

ine  (Lat. )  =  belonging  to. 
ing  (Eng. )  =  the  act;  containing 

(n.;  v.;  .adj. ). 
ion    (Lat.)   =    act  of;  state  of 

being  (n. ). 

ise  (Gr. )  }  =   to  make;  to  give 
in  j          (v.). 

ish    (Eng. )    =    somewhat;  like; 

to  make  (adj.;v. ). 
ism    (Gr. )    =    state   of    being; 

doctrine  (n. ). 
ist  (Gr. )  =  one  who  (n. ). 
ite  (Lat. )  =  one  who  is;  being 

(adj.;n.). 

ity  (Lat. )  )  =  state  or  quality  of 
ty  }         being  (».). 

ive  (Lat.)  =  one  who;  that  which; 

having  power  or  quality  (n.; 

adj.). 

ix  (Lat.  =  fetnale  (n. ). 
ize.    See  ise. 
kin  (Eng. )  =  little  (n. ). 
less  (Eng. )  =  without  (adj. ) 
let  (Eng. )  =  little  (n. ). 
ling  (Eng. )  =  little  (n. ). 
ly  (Eng. )  =  like;  manner  (adj.; 

adv. ). 
men*   (Lat.)  =   state  of  being; 

act  of;  that  which  (n. ). 
mony   (Lat.)  =  state  of  being; 

that  which  (n.). 
ness   (Eng. )  =  state  or  quality 

of  being  (n. ). 


8  (Eng. ) 

M 


ock  (Eng. )  =  little  (n. ). 

or  (Lat. )  =  one  who;  that  which 

(n.). 

ory  (Lat. )  =  relating  to;  place 
where;  thing  which  (adj.; 
n.) 

ose  (Lat. )  )    =  full  of;  having 
ous  j          (adj. ). 

pie  (Lat. )  =  fold  (adj.  ). 
ry.    See  ery. 

=  plural  of  nouns; 
third  person  singu- 
lar of  verbs  (n.;v.). 

'»  (Eng. ;  ) 

«  f  =  Possesstve  case- 

ship  (Eng. )  =  state  of;  office  of 

(n.). 

sion.     See  ion. 
some  (Eng. )  =  full  of;  causing 

(adj.). 

ster  (Eng. )  =  one  who  (n. ). 
th  (Eng. )  =  state  of  being  (n. ). 
tion    See  ion. 

tude  (Lat. )  =  state  of  being  (n. ). 
ty.     See  ity. 
ule  (Lat. )  =  little  (n. ). 
ulent  (Lat. )  =  full  of  (adj. ). 
are    (Lat.)   =   state  or  act  of; 

that  which  (n.). 

ward    (Eng. )  )  =    direction  o } 
wards  j          (adv. ). 

wise  (Eng. )  =  manner  (adv. ). 
y  (Eng. ).    See  ie  (n. ). 
y  (Eng. )  full  of;  having  (adj. ). 
y   (Lat.;  Gr. )  =  state  of  being 

(n.). 


i6o 


ELEMENTARY  WORD  STUDY 


(3)     LATIN  STEMS 


(act).    See  agere. 

aequus  (equ,  equal,  iqu),  equal; 

just. 

agere  (act,  ag ),  to  do;  to  drive. 
alienus  (alien ),  another;  stranger. 
anima  (anim),  lijc. 
animus  (anim ),  mind . 
annus  (ann,  annu,  enn),  a  year. 
bene,  well. 
cadere   (cad,  cas,  cid,  cide),  to 

fall. 
capere    (cap,   capt,   ceive,   cept, 

dp),  to  take. 

caput  (capit,  cipit ),  the  head. 
(cas).     See  cadere. 
cedere  (ced,  cede,  ceed,  cess),  to 

go;  to  yield. 

(ceive,  cept ) .    See  capere. 
(cid).     See  cadere. 
(cip).     See  capere. 
(cipit).     See  caput. 
clamare  (claim,  clamat),  to  cry 

out;  to  call. 
claudere     (dud,    elude,    clus), 

to  shut. 

credere  (cred,  credit ),  to  believe. 
currere  (cur,  curr,  curs ),  to  run. 
dicere  (diet ),  to  say. 
dignus  (dign ),  worthy. 
ducere  (due,  duce,  duct ),  to  lead. 
(enn).     See  annus. 
(equ).     See  aequus. 
facere  (fac,  fact,  feas,  feet,  fie), 

to  do;  to  make. 
felix  (felic ),  happy. 
ferre  (fer,  lat ),  to  bear;  to  carry. 


(fie).     See  facere. 
fiuere  (flu,  fluct,  flux ),  to  flow. 
forma  (form),  a  shape;  a  form. 
frangere  (frang,  fract,  fring),  to 

break. 
fundere    (fund,    fus,    fuse),    to 

Pour. 
gradi,  (grad,  grade,  gress),  to  step; 

to  walk. 

haerere  (her,  hes ),  to  stick. 
(iqu).     See  aequus. 
ire  (it),  to  go. 
(lat).     See  ferre. 
litera  (liter ),  a  letter. 
loqui  (loqu,  locut ),  to  speak. 
magnus  (magn ),  great. 
manus  (man,  manu ),  the  hand. 
mergere    (merg,  mers),  to  dip; 

to  plunge. 

migrare  (migr,  migrat),  to  wan- 
der; to  remove. 
mittere  (mit,  miss ),  to  send. 
pars  (part,  parti ),  a  part. 
ponere  (pon,  posit ),  to  place. 
potens  (potent ),  powerful. 
scandere  (scend,  scens),  to  climb. 
scribere    (scrib,   scribe,   script), 

to  write. 

secare  (sect ),  to  cut. 
sedere  (sed,  sess,  sid ),  to  sit. 
specere     )  (spect,  spic ),  to  look; 
orspicere  }  to  see. 

spirare    fspir,   spire,   spirat),  to 

breathe;  to  blow. 
(tain).  Seetenere. 
tempus  (temper  ),time. 


SUMMARY  OF  WORD  STUDY 


161 


endere    (tend,    tens,    tent),    to  trahere  (tract ),  to  draw. 

stretch.  tribuere    (tribut),    to  allot;    to 
tenere   (tain,  ten,  tent,  tin),  to  give. 

hold.  verbum  (verb ),  a  word. 

(tent ).     See  tender e  and  tenere.  vertere  (vert,  vers ),  to  turn. 

(tin ).    See  tenere.  vocare  (voc,  vocat ),  to  call. 


(4)     GREEK  STEMS 


alpha  =  first    letter    in     Greek 

alphabet. 

anthropos  =  a  man. 
arctos  =  a  bear. 
aristos  =  noblest;  best. 
astron  =  a  star. 
autos  =  one's  self. 
beta  =  second    letter    in    Greek 

alphabet. 
biblos  =  a  book. 
bios  =  life. 
cristos     =     anointed     (Christ, 

Christmas). 
crites  =  a  judge. 
demos  =  the  people. 
drama  =  a  play. 
ge  =  the  earth. 
genea  =  generation;  birth. 


grapho  =  to  write. 

gymos  =  naked  (gymnasium). 

horos  =  a  boundary. 

hydor  =  water. 

logos  =  reason;  discourse;  science. 

mechanao  =  to  contrive;  to  in- 
vent. 

melos  =  a  song. 

odos  =  a  road  or  way  (exodus). 

opto  =  to  see. 

orthos  =  erect;  straight  (or- 
thography). 

pathos  =  feeling. 

philos  =  a  lover. 

polis  =  a  city. 

sophia  =  wisdom. 

telos  =  the  end;  distance. 

theatrum  —  a  theatre. 


162          ELEMENTARY  WORD  STUDY 


SUMMARY  OF  WORD  STUDY 


i  A 

Spelling 
Standard  List 
Miscellaneous  List 

Meaning  and  Use 

Formation  of  Words 

Prefixes 

Suffixes 

Stems 

Analysis  and  Synthesis 

Diacritical  Marks  from  Web- 
ster's Dictionary 

Use  of  Dictionary 

Choice  of  Words 

Figures  and  Allusions 

SUMMARY  OF  WORD  STUDY 


SUMMARY  OF  WORD  STUDY  —  Continued 


i  B 

2  A 

26 

Incidental 

150 

200 

In  the  first  three  years  the  words  used  are  taken  chiefly  from 
the  child's  oral  vocabulary. 

- 

For  the  first  three  years  the  marks  taught  and  the  order  of  the 
same  depend  upon  the  system  of  reading  employed. 

i64          ELEMENTARY  WORD  STUDY 


SUMMARY  OF  WORD  STUDY  —  Continued 


3A 

Spelling 
Standard  List 
Miscellaneous  List 

200 

Meaning  and  Use 

See  Preceding  Grades 

Formation  of  Words 

> 

Prefixes 

Suffixes 

Stems 

Analysis  and  Synthesis 

Diacritical  Marks  from  Web- 
ster's Dictionary 

See  Preceding  Grades 

Use  of  Dictionary 

Choice  of  Words 

Drill  on  correct  use  of  is,  are, 
was,  were,  has,  have 

Figures  and  Allusions 

SUMMARY  OF  WORD  STUDY 


165 


SUMMARY  OF  WORD  STUD Y  —  Continued 


3B 

4A 

250 

15° 
150 

All 

ale,  arm,   all,  am,  eve,  Snd, 
Ice,  111,  old,  odd,  use,  tip 

Forms  of  do,  see,  come,  go, 
plurals  of  nouns 

Forms  of  irregular  verbs  and 
plurals  of  nouns 

166          ELEMENTARY  WORD  STUDY 


SUMMARY  OF  WORD  STUDY  —  Continued 


4B 

Spelling 
Standard  List 
Miscellaneous  List 

150 
150 

Meaning  and  Use 

All 

Formation  of  Words 

A 

r 

Prefixes 

Suffixes 

Stems 

Analysis  and  Synthesis 

Diacritical  Marks  from  Web- 
ster's Dictionary 

Review  4  A,  care,  ask,  fern, 
6rb,  rude,  full 

Use  of  Dictionary 

Choice  of  Words 

Special  drill  on  forms  of  is, 
have,  do,  see,  come,  go 

Figures  and  Allusions 

SUMMARY  OF  WORD  STUDY 


167 


SUMMARY  OF  WORD  STUDY— Continued 


5A 

SB 

i75 
i?5 

i75 
i7S 

All 

All 

a,  be,  en  (em),  for,  fore,  mis, 
out 

One  who  does  —  an,  ant,  ent, 
ar,  er,  or,  ard,  ary,  eer,  ier, 
ist,  ive,  ster 

Selected  and  related  to  words 
whose  meaning  is  taught 

See  p.  148 

Review  4  A  and  4  B,  senate, 
event,  idea,  obey,  unite 

Review  4  A,  4  B,  5  A,  urn,  pity  , 
food,  foot,  out,  oil 

In  the  fourth  and  fifth  years  children  should  be  taught  how 
to  find  a  word  in  the  teacher's  dictionary 

Choice  of  adjectives  used  in 
description 

Agreement  of  verb  and  sub- 
ject, irregular  verbs,  prepo- 
sitions 

i68 


ELEMENTARY  WORD  STUDY 


SUMMARY  OF  WORD  STUDY— Continued 


6  A 

Spelling 
Standard  List 
Miscellaneous  List 

200 
200 

Meaning  and  Use 

All 

Formation  of  Words 

A 

Prefixes 

Review  58:  over,  to,  un,  un- 
der, with,  ab  (abs),  ad 

Suffixes 

Review    58:    One    who    is; 
one  to  whom  —  ate,  ee,  ite,  ive 
Place  where  —  ary,  cry,  ory 

Stems 

Selected  and  related  to  words 
whose  meaning  is  taught 

Analysis  and  Synthesis 

See  p.  148 

Diacritical  Marks  from  Web- 
ster's Dictionary 

All 

For  directions,  see  p.  152 

Use  of  Dictionary 

See  p.  152 

Choice  of  Words 

Drill  on  irregular  verbs,  prepo- 
sitions, relative  pronouns 

Figures  and  Allusions 

SUMMARY  OF  WORD  STUDY  169 


SUMMARY  OF  WORD  STUD Y  —  Continued 


6B 

?A 

200 
200 

225 

2^5 

All 

All 

Review  56,  6A:  ante,  bi  (bis), 
circum,  con,  contra,  de,  dis 

Review  sE,  6A,  6B:  ex,  extra, 
in,  inter,  non,  ob,  per 

Review  56,  6A:  State,  quality, 
act  —  acy,   age,   al,    ance, 
ancy,  dom,  ence,  ency,  hood. 

Review  5B-6B,  State,  quality, 
act  —  ing,  ion,  ment,  ism, 
mony,  ness,  ty,  ity 

See  preceding  grades 

See  preceding  grades 

See  p.  148 

See  p.  148 

All 
See  p.  152 

All 

See  p.  152 

See  p.  152 

See  p.  152 

Choice  of  verbs, 
Possessive  forms 

Precision 
Simplicity 

Simile 

170          ELEMENTARY  WORD  STUDY 


SUMMARY  OF  WORD  STUDY  —  Continued 


.    7B 

Spelling 
Standard  List 
Miscellaneous  List 

225 

225 

Meaning  and  Use 

All 

Formation  of  Words 

Prefixes 

Review  56  to  ;A:  post,  pre, 
pro,  re,  retro,  se,  semi 

Suffixes 

Review  56   to  yA:    Diminu- 
tives: cle,  cule,  ie  or  y,  kin, 
en,  let,  ling,  ock,  ule,  ette 

Stems 

Selected  and  related  to  words 
whose  meaning  is  taught 

Analysis  and  Synthesis 

See  p.  148 

Diacritical  Marks  from  Web- 
ster's Dictionary 

See  p.  152 

Use  of  Dictionary 

See  p.  152 

Choice  of  Words 

Precision 
Simplicity 

Figures  and  Allusions 

Metaphor 

SUMMARY  OF  WORD  STUDY  171 


SUMMARY  OF  WORD  STUD Y  —  Continued 


8  A 

8B 

250 

250 

250 
250 

All 

All 

Review  56  to  76:  sub,  super, 
trans,   ultra,    vice,  a  (an), 
amphi,  ana,  and 

Review  56  to  8A:  apo,  cata> 
epi,  hyper,  hypo,  meta,  sym 

Review  58  to  78:    al,  ary,  ic, 
ical,  ine,  ory,  ful,  ous,  able, 
ible,  ble,  ish 

Review  56  to   8A:    less,  ant, 
ent,  ate,  en,  ise,  ize,  ly,  ern, 
ward 

See  preceding  grades 

See  preceding  grades 

See  p.  148 

See  p.  148 

See  p.  152 

See  p.  152 

See  p.  152 

See  p.  152 

Precision 
Simplicity 

Precision 
Simplicity 

Personification 

Review 

Index 


Abbott,  Edwin  A 92,  155 

Abbreviations  •» 14 

Alden,  Abner,  quoted 2 

Accent   10 

Alphabet,  Origin  of 19 

Analysis  of  spelling  errors  . .  46 

—  of  words 148 

Articulation     3 

Authors,  practice  of  in  spell-  46 

ing 

Bagley,  William  C 154 

Bain,  Alexander  . .  .45,  116,  155 

Barnes,  Earl  .  .99, 117, 125,  155 
Berlin   investigation  on 

words  06 

Bibliography  of  Word  Study  154 

Blucher 25 

Bumham,  William  H.     43,  154 

Campbell,  William  A 70 

Capitalization  13 

—  in  spelling  lists   13 

Carpet-bagger    118 

Carmen,  Miss  E.  K.   ..41,  154 
Chambers,  Will  Grant 

104,   117,  155 
Characteristic    errors    of 

pronunciation   9 

Children's  definitions 129 

Children's  sentences 130 


Choice  of  words    150 

Combination   of  senses   in 

spelling    69 

Committee  of  Fifteen     88 

Committee  of  Ten    79 

Compounds    17 

Conclusions  on  spelling   ...     54 

Concrete  words 151 

Connected  discourse  in  spell- 
ing       69 

Consonants   4 

— classified 5 

Constitutional  bad  spellers  .  154 
Contents  of  children's 

minds 97 

Context,  use  of,  in  teaching 

meaning  of  words   115 

Contractions 14 

Conventional  value  of  spell- 
ing       28 

Copying  method  of  spelling  34,68 
Copyists,  effect  on  spelling  .  21 
Cornman,  Oliver  P 43, 154 

Deductive  methods  of  teach- 
ing meaning  of  words  ...  120 

— definition  123 

— prefixes  and  suffixes    ..  120 
— synonyms 125 

Definition,  illustration  of  . .     93 

— nature  of  92 

'73 


174 


INDEX 


Definitions,  children's.  129, 131 
— learning  useless  ..  102,128 

— words  not  to  define 106 

— what  words  to  define  . .  108 
— not  to  be  copied 127 

Derivation  of  words   67 

Devices  of  word  study  .  132,147 

— trapping 132 

— a  modern  substitute  for 

trapping 133 

— spelling  in  1851   136 

— names    of    common 

things 136 

— logomachy 137 

— calling   attention    to 

parts 137 

— drill  on  words  often  mis- 
pronounced    138 

— spelling    139 

— meaning 142 

— spelling  by  dictation   ..  143 
— meaning  and  use 143 

Dexter  and  Garlick    93 

Diacritical  marks  1 1 

— list  of 12,  152 

Dictation  day  by  day 155 

Dictionary,  effect  on  spell- 
ing       22 

—habit 83 

Dramatization  for  meaning 
of  words    119 

Drill  in  spelling 78 

— on    words   often    mis- 
pronounced    138 

Dutton,  Samuel  T 130 

Educational  value  of  spell- 
ing       27 


Elizabeth,  Queen    25 

English  spelling  arbitrary  . .  65 

Enunciation    3 

Errors  of  spelling  analyzed  .  46 

Euphonic  analogy 98 

Every  lesson  a  spelling  les- 
son      82 

Fifteen -minute  test 44 

Figurative  meanings 126 

Frederick  the  Great    25 

Function  of  words 89 

Graded  list  of  prefixes  and 

suffixes  122 

Green,   Christopher  A. 

24,  136,  142 

Greek  stems    161 

Grimm,  Jacob 21 

Hall,  G.  Stanley 97, 155 

Hard  and  soft  consonants  . .  4 

Homonyms    71 

Howell,  James    89 

How  words  get  meaning  ...  96 

Huxley,  Thomas  H 91 

Hygiene  of  spelling 154 

Imitation  in  pronunciation  6 

Incidental  spelling 79 

Individual     differences     in 

spelling    77 

Inductive  method  of  finding 

meaning  of  words   92 

— in  teaching  meaning  of 

words  113 

James,  William 91 


INDEX 


'75 


Johnson,  Samuel,  his  dic- 
tionary    22 

Johnston,  Emma  L 121 

Judd,  Charles  H 89,  154 

Kendall,  C.  N 86, 154 

Knowledge-teaching,  rela- 
tion to  language-teach- 
ing    95 

Kratz,  H.  E 36,  i$4 

Language-teaching    and 

knowledge-teaching  *. . . .  95 

Latin  stems,  list  of 160 

Lay,  W.  A 3* 

Lisping    10 

Logomachy  137 

Lowell,  James  Russell   90 

Mead,  William,  E.  ...  26,  154 
Meaning  and  use  of  words  .  89 
— how  words  get  meaning  96 
— various  studies  on  .96-104 
— summary  of  conclusions  104 
— methods  of  teaching  111-131 
— when  should  formal 

study  begin?   115 

— use  of  context    115 

— use  of  story  and  pic- 
ture       117,  u8 

— use  of  memorizing 1 16 

— use  of  dramatization  ..119 

— deductive  method 120 

— figurative  and  poetic  ..  126 

— device 145 

Memorizing   poetry   for 

meaning  of  words   116 

— definitions   127 


Method  in   Education, 

Roark 154 

Method  of  Spelling: 

— principles 65 

— preparation   67 

Motor  idea  in  spelling    55,  56,  68 

Names  of  common  things  .  136 
Natural  method  of  teaching 

meaning  of  words  113 

Nature  of  spelling 18 

New  York,  spelling  in  88 

Norman  Conquest,  effect 

on  spelling  20 

Northwest  School 45,  75 

Origin  of  alphabet 19 

Petrel   119 

Phonetic  words  to  be  spelled 

first     65 

Phonic  analysis    7 

Pictures,  to  teach  meaning 

of  words    117 

Plurals  16 

Possessives    16 

Prefixes  and  suffixes  120 

— graded  list  essential    ..  122 

— classification    123 

— list  of  156 

Printing,  invention  of,  effect 

on  spelling 22 

Pronunciation i,  65,  138 

— how  to  teach  foreigners  7 

— characteristic  errors  of  9 

— important  in  spelling  . .  34 

Propositions,  thirty,  on  spell- 
ing    54 

Psychology  of  spelling    29,  154 


176 


INDEX 


Rhodes,  James  P 118 

Rice,  Dr.  J.  M 39 

Roark,R.  N 154 

Rules  of  Spelling     34,  57 

Scalawag  118 

Schiller,  H.  H 35 

Schools,  spelling  in   23 

Scope  of  word  study   i 

Selection  of  words  for  spell- 
ing      59 

Sentences,  children's 130 

Shakespeare's  name  written 

thirty  ways 22 

Shaw,  Edward  R 38,  154 

Shaw  and  Donnell 138 

Shiels,  Albert 113, 155 

Skeat,  Walter  W 25 

Smedley,  F.  W 35,  154 

Soft  and  hard  consonants  ..  4 

Specific  words 151 

Spelling,  a  lost  art?     154 

—in  1851 136 

— where  to  begin 18 

— effect   on   of   Norman 

Conquest 20 

— practice  of  authors 21 

— effect  on  of  invention 

of  printing 22 

— effect  of  dictionaries   ..  22 

— in  schools    23 

— psychology  of    29 

— Miss  Wyckoff 's  tests  . .  30 

— Lay's  tests    32 

—Schiller's  tests 35 

— Smedley's  tests  35 

— Kratz's  tests   36 

—Shaw's  tests  38 


Spelling,  Rice's  tests     39 

— Miss  Carmen's  tests   . .  41 

— Comman's  tests 34 

— thirty  propositions  on  .  54 

— time  allowance 40,  41 

— methods  of  teaching   . .  59 

— book,  arguments  for 59 

— book,    arguments 

against 61 

— principles  of  selection 

for 63 

— principles  of  method  ..  65 

— English,  arbitrary 65 

— not  a  general  habit 66 

— preparation  of  lesson  . .  67 

— syllabication  in    67 

— derivation  in  67 

— visual  versus  auditory 

images  68 

— copying  method    68 

— motor  images 68 

— automatic  through 

writing 69 

— connected  discourse    . .  69 

— no  best  method   71 

— the  test  in   71 

— a  sign  of  general  peda- 
gogical health 75 

— individual  differences  .  77 

—drill  in   78 

— incidental 79 

— in  every  lesson  82 

— dictionary  habit    83 

— and  supervision 84 

Stammering 9 

Stems,  lists  of    160,  161 

Story,   use  of  in   teaching 
meaning 117,118 


INDEX 


177 


Suffixes    120 

—list  of  158 

Summary  of  word  study 148 

Supervision  and  spelling  —  84 

Syllabication  67 

Synonyms 125 

Table  of  spelling  errors 48 

Taylor,  Joseph  S.,  Compo- 
sition    151 

— children's  definitions  ..  155 

Teaching  and  testing   73 

Testing  and  Teaching 73 

Test  in  spelling 71 

Tests  of  meaning    127 

Thorndyke,  E.  L 41,  154 

Time  devoted  to  spelling  40,  41 

Tompkins,  Arnold   25 

Trapping 132 

— a  modern  substitute  for  133 

Van  Wagenen,  Kate,  70, 143, 155 

Visual  vs.  auditory  images  .  68 

Vowel  sounds   3 

Ward,  Edward  G 8 

Washington,  George    26 

Webster's  dictionary: 

—classification  of  sounds  6 


Webster's  Dictionary: 

— effect  on  spelling  23 

Wickersham,  James  P.    ...  137 

Words,  phonetic   65 

— selection  for  spelling  .  59, 63 

— function  of 89 

— how  they  get  meaning  96, 99 
— Berlin  investigation  —     96 
— Dr.     Hall's    investiga- 
tion       97 

— Denmark  investigation      99 
— Earl   Barnes's  investi- 
gation       99 

— Chambers's    investiga- 
tion    104 

— summary    of    conclu- 
sions    104 

— not  to  define 106 

— what  to  define   ..  108,  no 
— methods    of    teaching 

meaning 1 1 1-131 

— choice  of 150 

— specific 151 

— concrete  151 

Word  analysis  —  18,  148,  149 

— synthesis 148,  149 

— study,  summary  of 148 

Written  spelling 58 

Wyckoff,  Adelaide  E.     29,  154 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 

Los  Angeles 
This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below. 


^_      Cl  1 

HAR  1  6  !959bv 

3JECT  TO  FINE  IF  ^ 

EDUCATION  LIBRARY 

V»  \* 

JAN  3      1963 

OCT  271972 

i  o  13&£ 

JAN  2  3     B3 

H»m 

FEB  25      63 

RECEIVED 

MAR  1  6  1960 
MAY  2  6  1960 

SPRING  SEMESTER    1963 

OCT  $4  W2 

JUL  26  1961 

Qcr  i  ^  us* 

EDU.IPSYCH. 

UBRARY. 

JIW  4     1962 

J/1/v  5     1964 

iajo^w 

nri  «*  1964 

SEP  10  JP 

^lfa(*jJt  C^l^iu 

CTD  98     '62 

'Sf'  f             <^ 

OCT      8  IboZ 

^ 

OCT  2  7  '64 

OCT  3  1     V62 

NOV  21    '62 

0£C   1  4  1964 

DEC  1  2    ^62 

JAN  7     1965 

M/W    •« 

Wfifi 

Form  L9-32m-8,'57(.C8680s4)444 


Education 
Library 

LB 


T21 


UCLA-ED/PSYCH  Library 

LB1574T21 


L  005  639  890  2 


,  SCHOOL 

ULFORNL 


A    000993185    8 


